


What Did We Do

by orphan_account



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Femslash, Fluff, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-05
Updated: 2016-01-10
Packaged: 2018-05-11 22:43:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 18
Words: 54,494
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5644498
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>While attempting to figure out a way to get rid of Marian, Regina(and an unwitting Emma) are whisked away to the Enchanted Forest by a man they have never seen before. In order to get back to their home and their families, they are forced to create a bond which has unpredictable repercussions. What follows is a mess with unseen enemies and obstacles for them to conquer together back in Storybrooke.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Enjoy Your Trip

**Author's Note:**

> *post 3B/4A ish*  
> make sure to give kudos if you like and don't be afraid to comment :)

 

Regina was angry and frustrated. Of all the things the damned Savior could have done, this was definitely the worst. She hated Marian and the fact that Robin had chosen her - and she most certainly hated Emma Swan for bringing her back. Everything had been going so wonderfully, only to be wrecked by a naive, foolish woman with no care for anyone but herself.

There was a knock on her door, and she turned around to find Emma standing in the doorway.

"Go away." She grumbled, turning back to her books. "I don't have anything to say to you."

Emma took a few steps forward. "Look, I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" Regina cried, slamming her hands on the table. "Sorry doesn't make up for what you did!"

The blonde remained silent, watching the angry queen with concern.

"You know what I hate the most?" Regina asked, turning back to look at Emma. "That you're  _so_ much like your mother. You always have to fix everything, when all you really do is make everything worse and leave me to clean it up!"

"What do you mean clean it up?" Emma interrupted. "You're not-"

Regina only scowled at her. She was growing more and more annoyed by every minute that the Savior remained there, and so she grabbed her coat and stomped past Emma and out of the room. Emma hurried after her, and only barely managed to get to her before she got into her car.

“What are you doing?” Regina asked, her eyes darting between Emma’s tight grip on her arm and the blonde’s face.

“What are _you_ doing?” Emma growled. 

"That's none of your business."

"You are not going to hurt Marian."

"As I said. None of your business." Regina snarled, ripping her arm away and climbing into her car. Emma huffed in frustration and ran to her own car, hurrying to follow Regina. She tailed her all the way to the cemetery, where Regina headed directly to her vault. Emma ran after her, determined to try and talk her out of yet another murder. She wasn't quite sure why she was doing it - mostly because she liked both Marian and Regina and didn't want either of their lives ruined. Not to mention the overwhelming guilt that she felt, since the whole issue was mostly her fault.

She scrambled her way down the stairs and into the vault, practically running into Regina's arms. The woman pushed her off of herself and scowled. "Go away."

Emma had to take a moment to catch her breath before speaking. "I'm not going anywhere until you tell me you're not going to hurt Marian in any way."

Regina shook her head and chuckled. "I don't think I can do that."

"Regina..." Emma pleaded. "It's not worth it."

"Who are you to tell me it isn't?" Regina snapped. "You told me you wanted me a happy ending. Now you've ruined it, and I'm trying to fix the issue."

"This isn't the way and you know it."

"Then what is? Waiting until he realizes the woman he loves, the  _mother of his child_ , isn't the true love of his life and come running to me?" Regina said in a mocking tone. 

"Yes." Emma snapped. "You wait. You talk to him."

"I'm not the waiting kind." Regina retorted.

"I can take your issue off your hands, if you like."

Both Regina and Emma turned towards the voice, and were surprised to find a small man sitting on the desk. He wore jester's clothes which glimmered in all possible shades, and on his face was the most terrifying smile either of them had ever seen. 

“Hello, your Majesty.” He drawled, a smirk playing on his lips. “About time you came here. I’ve been waiting _all_ week.” He spread his hands wide and rolled his head around, causing the bells on his hat to jingle.

“Who…” Regina growled, her face dark with anger. “What-“

“I know what you’re going to ask. Who am I? What am I doing here?” The jester laughed heartily. He hopped off the table and bowed graciously, giving the bells another jingle. "I am Tom le Fol, at your service. I knew you’d come down here and look for a spell to rid yourself of a particular...wench. You so want your dear Robin to love you, after all.”

“What do you want, fool?” Regina snarled at the jester.

"Oh, it's not about what I want." He giggled. "My liege has sent me here to...give you a little vacation." He pulled out a bottle from his pocket and grinned widely. 

He threw the bottle to the ground, casting a spell which caused both Emma and Regina to knock out instantly. Giggling to himself, the Tom skipped over to the two women. Using a small knife he cut into both Emma's and Regina's hands, gathering some of their blood in some bottles before retrieving a bean from his other pocket. He stepped over the women and climbed up the stairs, turning at the top to toss the bean to the ground beside them. "Enjoy your trip," He yelled. "See you never!"

Where the bean had fallen, the floor was melting away, and within seconds, there was a hole ten feet across in the floor. The two women didn't even realize what was happening, and within moments both their sleeping forms had fallen through and into the vortex.

* * *

Regina landed first, falling a few feet onto her back. The air was knocked out of her lungs, and she woke up with a start. As she tried to regain her breath, she saw Emma materialize about thirty feet above her. The blonde fell, landing right beside Regina face-down in the snow.

There was snow on the ground, and so Regina scrambled up as soon as she could to prevent herself from getting cold. Emma, however, didn’t follow suit. She remained on the ground, not moving, not even making a sound.

“Ms. Swan?” Regina called out, crouching beside her and turning her over to her back. Emma was knocked out, an ugly cut running across her cheek. She was only wearing jeans and a tank top, thanks to the wonderful summery weather back in Storybrooke. If she left her there, the Savior would be dead within the hour. Regina smirked and stood up to leave, only to stop a few feet away and turn back to look at the blonde.

As tempting as it was, Regina realized she didn't want this. She walked back over to Emma and crouched beside her. She raised her hand a few inches above Emma’s chest, and cast a quick spell to wake her up.

Emma woke with the feeling that her chest was on fire. She gasped for air, which only resulted in insidious pain that emanated from the few ribs that were broken where they’d made contact with the ground. Regina’s face appeared above her, and for a moment she was very confused.

“Regina? What-“ She winced as Regina pressed a hand onto her side, right above where the pain was coming from.

“Shut up. Relax.”

A warm glow emanated from the woman’s hand as she healed Emma. The blonde could feel her ribs mending inside her, and although she knew it was for good she still groaned from the pain as her bones set back to where they were meant to be. The warmth of Regina’s hand on her side was alarmingly nice, and she drew back the instant the woman was finished.

Only now did she realise that she was laying in two feet of snow in only a tank top and jeans. Shivers overcame her, and she scrambled up as fast as she could.

“What the hell?” She cried. “Where are we?”

Regina stood up slowly. “I think we’re in the Enchanted Forest.”

“You think?”

“Well we’re not in Storybrooke, that’s for sure. Feels like home.” Regina shrugged.

“It’s cold.”

“Yes it is.”

“Can you do anything about it?”

“The cold? No. I mean I could but there are too many risks.”

“I meant, can you get us more appropriate clothing?”

“If you say please.”

“Regina, please.”

Regina waved her hand and all of a sudden they were clad in warm, winter clothes. Regina wore a black fur cape with some sort of black leathery shirt and pants combination beneath. Despite their simplicity they still appeared very regal and, well, Regina-like. Emma, on the other hand, wore a plain, thick blue woollen sweater and brown pants, along with leather boots and a sheepskin cape with a fleece lining.

“Thank you.”

“Now for our problem.” Regina ran her eyes across the small clearing they were in, over the snowy trees and the frozen pond. “How do we get back?”

“How did we get here in the first place?” Emma demanded. She was still shivering, and so she pulled up her hood.

“I don’t know, exactly. The jester…” Regina sighed, still unable to believe she’d been so stupid. “He threw a bean.”

“We have to get back.”

“You think I haven’t realised that?” Regina snapped. “God knows what he's doing while we dawdle here- or what he's doing to my son...“

“Our son.”

“Yes, yes, our son. We can’t waste any time.”

“Any ideas on how to get back?”

“No.”

“Great. That’s _just_ great.”

“Don’t blame me for this – I didn’t ask you to come. In fact, I think I told you to go away multiple times.”

“Well I'm sorry I tried to help you."

“Well that backfired, didn't it?” Regina growled. “Like things always do with you.”

“I was trying to help!”

“And now we’re both stuck here while god knows what has all the time in the world to take over Storybrooke.”

“And you’re clearly blaming  _me_.” Emma snapped back. “Wonderful. Just-“

"I'm mad at you." Regina snapped.

"I told you I was sorry." Emma grumbled. "Besides...if he really loved you he wouldn't have gone to Marian. Just saying."

"What do you know of it?"

"A lot more than you, apparently."

"He was supposed to be my soulmate, and you ruined it!" 

"Supposed? Regina, it sounds like you don't even believe that he was." Emma pointed out. "Besides, soulmates don't exist."

"And how do you know that?"

"Because I think it's impossible for there to be just one person for everyone."

Regina paused and stared at Emma. The blonde gave her a careful smile, and a warmth spread through Regina's chest. She had felt it many times before, but she had always blamed it on the Savior's magical properties rather than anything else.

"I suppose you may be...right." She stammered, all of her anger suddenly gone. She realized that she hadn't  _really_   been mad at Emma - only extremely annoyed and frustrated. It was Marian and Robin that she was truly angry with, not the idiot who brought them together in the first place. "But-"

She never got to finish her sentence, nor did Regina ever even have time to think of a reply. In the next instant, the whole clearing was engulfed in green smoke, and they both fell to the ground, fast asleep. Hooded figures emerged from the woods, a whole army of them, and the two women were quickly tied up and carried away.

* * *

Regina was the first to wake up. The instant she did, she felt the searing, burning pain which radiated from her left wrist. She glanced down and her heart grew cold when she saw the familiar leather cuff on her arm. She was rendered useless. Without her magic, they had no chance of escape.

She then looked around. She herself was chained down against the wall, with heavy iron shackles locked on both her hands and feet. There were spikes in the shackles, which dug into her skin, causing small trickles of blood to run down her arms and feet. They were in a cave, not very large – it must’ve been about sixty feet across to the heavy oaken door. There were no windows, only the light which came from the candles that floated near the ceiling.

Emma was chained too, but instead of being chained to the wall she hung from the ceiling in the middle of the room. The chain was so low that she was on her knees, but high enough that her arms stretched far up above her. Her head hung against her chest, and her hair covered her face.

“Ms. Swan?” Regina whispered. She was too afraid to speak out loud, in fear of their captors coming back. “Emma!?”

She grabbed a tiny rock and threw it at the blonde, but missed. The second attempt hit it’s target, and Emma stirred slightly, mumbling in her sleep. On the third try, the rock hit Emma in the ribs, which caused her to wake up with a pained gasp.

“What…” She slurred, raising her head to look at Regina with a confused, drugged look in her eyes. “Where…”

“I don’t know. Are you…” Regina stopped herself for a moment, then continued.  “Are you okay?”

“No…my arms hurt. And my ribs…”

“Your ribs were hurt before. Do you remember that?”

“No?” Emma shook her head. “Wait…yes, I do.”

“Do you remember anything after that?”

“We argued…and then smoke?”

The oaken door slammed open, causing the entire cave to shake as both of them jumped in fear. A large hunk of a man emerged, along with what Regina soon realised to be goblins – ugly, lanky, malformed monsters with fang-like teeth and claws sharper than a knife. There were many of them – at least twenty, but since they were relatively small, the cave wasn’t filled up.

“Well, well.” The man drawled, his voice hard and raspy in a way that made fear rise in Emma’s chest. She glanced over at Regina, only to find her completely paled and her eyes wide, her mouth slightly open in shock.

“Look who we have here.” The man stepped forward, past Emma, and came to crouch in front of the woman. Regina, however, just stared at him without saying a word.

“What’s wrong? Don’t you recognize me?”

“No.”

“Well let me jog your memory.” The man pulled out a knife, which Emma was unable to see from where she was. She did, however, see all the blood drain from Regina’s face.

Regina recognized the seal on the knife’s hilt. She hadn’t seen it in years, but seeing it brought back a whole wave of memories.

“You’re-“

“The king’s lieutenant, yes.”

“Which king?” Regina drawled, attempting to keep at least some of her confidence. “I have slain so many-“

“You insolent bitch!” The man yelled, slapping Regina. Her head slung to the side, and when she raised her head Emma saw a small trail of blood trickle down from the corner of her mouth.

“I speak of _the_ king.” The man then growled. “King John.”

“What does King John want with me?”

“I ask the questions, and you answer.”

“Who are you?”

“I told you, I am the king’s lieutenant.”

“Do you have a name?”

“You may call me the Sheriff.” He told her. “And now you shall answer my questions, or so help me God-“

“You’ll kill me?”

The Sheriff turned around to point his sword at Emma’s throat. The sharp blade scraped at the soft skin of her neck, and a tiny bead of blood emerged from where it had pierced the skin. “I’ll kill her.”

Regina couldn’t help herself – the blood drained from her face, and that was enough to tell the Sheriff that he’d struck at the right spot. “Now, dear…let’s start.”

The Sheriff came to crouch in front of Regina, a mean look in his eyes. The goblins behind him shuffled closer to Emma, and one of them even brought up a knife to press against her throat to ensure Regina co-operated.

“How did you come here?”

“Through a portal.”

“How are you going to get back?”

“We don’t know.”

“How did you create your curse?”

Regina paused, wondering how he knew about the curse. “It was given to me.”

“Who gave it to you?”

“Rumplestiltskin.”

“Where is the curse now?”

“Not here.”

“Where is it?”

“Not. Here.”

“That’s not the right answer.” The Sheriff snarled. “I’d be careful if I were you, or your girl’s going to be spilling quite the bit of blood.”

“She’s not my girl.” Regina spat back. “I destroyed the curse.”

“Then who cast it again? How did they do it?”

“I don’t know.”

“Tell me!”

“I don’t know!” Regina yelled. “Why do you care so much about the curse, anyway? I think you’d be overjoyed to have all the realm to yourselves.”

“That’s none of your business.” The Sheriff replied. “Can you take us to this…Storybrooke?”

Regina furrowed her brows in suspicion. “How do _you_ know the name of my town?”

“I ask the questions.”

“You know someone in there.” Regina realised. “Someone…who His Majesty needs back.”

“Enough.” The Sheriff snapped, but it was enough for Regina. She knew she had been right. “You will help us get there.”

“No, I won’t.”

“Then I'll kill her.” He said. As if to reinforce his words, the goblin pressed the knife deeper into Emma’s neck, causing panic to rise inside Regina’s chest. She looked into her eyes and saw the fear, and was overcome by a sudden sense of overwhelming confidence.

"Fine, go ahead." She chipped. "Watch me care."

The Sheriff hesitated, a surprised look on his face. "What-"

“If you kill her, then you’ll have nothing to bargain with.” Regina snarled. “You will get nothing.”

The Sheriff, realising this was true, ordered the goblin to put down the knife. “Fair enough. Don’t say I didn’t try the easy way.”

He rose and turned around, only now properly showing Emma his face. He had brown hair and green eyes, and a fairly round and plump face. He looked old – at least fifty – but his eyes looked even older. He had a stubbly beard, and there was a blue tattoo which ran from his neck down into his shirt.

“What are you-“ Emma began as she tried to scramble away, but the goblins behind her pushed her back as the Sheriff reached out and grabbed her throat. He lifted her up, choking her, and laughed. “This is kind of fun.”

“Stop-“ Regina whimpered. The word slipped from her mouth, despite her not even knowing what made her say it in the first place. She had never thought herself one to be sentimental, let alone to be feeling so weak because of another person's pain. The Sheriff dropped Emma and whirled around with a bemused look on his face.

“What? You don’t want me hurting her?” He snickered, pointing his finger at Emma. “That’s all the more reason to do so, methinks.”

“I won’t tell you anything.”

“You think so now.” The Sheriff said. “But I do think your friend here is a little more…malleable.”

Emma paled as the Sheriff turned back to her. “Whip her. I’ll be back in an hour.” He told the goblins that stood around her. With a snicker, he added: “And don’t hesitate. Make her _hurt_.”

Now Regina understood why Emma was placed as she was. The goblins followed the Sheriff, and only a handful remained. One of them, the largest and most mean-looking, stepped out front with a whip in his hand. It was long and terrifying, but it became horrific when it lit on fire. Emma had her eyes closed, and she was biting her lip as if that would’ve helped. But when the pain came, it was worse than anything she had ever felt. And she screamed.

With each scream which echoed through the cave, Regina felt pain. Not the sort of pain she knew Emma was in – not physical pain, but emotional. She was frustrated, she was angry beyond belief. Emma was in pain and for reasons she did not understand, she wished for it to stop. She did not want Emma to hurt.

She watched, horrified, as Emma’s back was filled with the burns and lashes. Each lash made Emma scream like she was dying – to her, that’s what it felt like. Her shirt had practically burned off – mere shreds remained, not covering anything or providing any protection from the vicious lashes. She was crying, too – the tears fell constantly, she was sobbing and screaming all at the same time. She couldn’t think, she couldn’t speak – all she felt was pain and the sobs and the screams.

After what felt like an eternity, the goblins stopped for a brief moment. Emma hung from her chains, barely conscious, unable to notice anything that was happening around her. Regina breathed a sigh of relief, thinking Emma’s torment was finally over.

It wasn’t.

A jar was introduced, and Emma’s screams resumed as the goblins sprinkled the salt all over her back. As the salt made it’s way into every cut and lash on the blonde’s body, the door to the cave opened, and the Sheriff returned.

“How about now?” He asked, lifting Emma’s head to make her look up at him. “Won’t you tell me how to get to your precious little town?”

“I don’t know.” Emma sobbed, her entire body shaking from pain and exhaustion. “I have no idea how, you have to believe me.”

“I don’t.” The  Sheriff growled. “You’ll tell me in due time.”

“But I don’t-“ Emma was silenced by a slap, and she fell back as the Sheriff turned to face Regina.

“How about you? Willing to talk?”

“I don’t know how to get bak!” Regina cried. “Please…” _Please don’t hurt her anymore_.

“I think it’s your turn to have a taste of fun.” The Sheriff snarled. He waved his hand and all of a sudden Emma and Regina had switched places. “But not yet. Tomorrow. I’ll be back.”

He marched out of the cell, and with him went every goblin. The door slammed shut, and once the noise had died down, all that Regina could hear were the quiet sobs that came from Emma. She looked at the blonde and could practically hear her heart breaking. The woman was curled up in a ball, unable to lean against the wall because of how much it hurt. Her entire body shook from the pain and crying. It was as though she couldn’t notice anything or anyone else.

“Hey…”

Emma jumped slightly as she heard Regina’s voice. Slowly, she raised her tear-streaked face to look at the woman. Suddenly realising how stupid she must look, she wiped her tears away angrily, scraping her cheek in the process with her shackle. “What?”

“I…” The woman began, but found herself at a loss for words. “I’m sorry.”

Emma frowned. “You? Sorry? Please. You’re just happy it wasn’t you.”

“No, really. I’m sorry.” Regina insisted. “This is my fault.”

“How exactly? What did you do to this one?”

“I-“ Regina paused, suddenly realising something. “I didn’t do anything. I’ve never even heard of King John.”

“But you recognized the knife.”

“I- Daniel had one just like it.”

“Daniel?”

“My…something.”

“So how is this your fault?”

“I should be able to do something to stop it. I can’t, not with this damn thing-“ Regina groaned, shaking her arm as though that were enough to get rid of the cuff.

Emma opened her mouth, but instead of words she began coughing. She was shivering, and without even a shirt to keep her warm she was quickly growing cold. “I think for once,” She managed in between coughs, “this isn’t your fault. He’s manic. We just had bad luck, is all.”

“You shouldn’t have to suffer for it. I should be able to do something.”

“But you can’t, now can you?”

“No.”

“I-“ Emma gasped, the pain engulfing her as she shifted to sit more comfortably. “I think I’m going to pass out.”

And she did. Her eyes shut, and she fell down to the ground in one heap. Regina winced as she saw Emma’s head fall against the floor, knowing she had hurt herself in the fall. She knew she had to do something, but she knew there was no fighting their captors – not without her magic, anyway.

“Sheriff!” She cried, her voice echoing in the caves. “Come here, you coward!”

She waited for what felt like ages, but finally the door opened and Gwydion sauntered in with a grin on his face. “Changed our mind, have we?”

“You can’t let her die.” Regina growled. “I told you - she dies and I won’t tell you a goddamn thing.”

“Aw, what, you _love_ her?”

“What? No.”

“Very quick to deny- I think yes.”

“I don’t – love - her.” Regina snapped, faltering slightly over the word love. “She dies and you get nothing. Understood?”

“I don’t think you’re in any position to bargain.”

“If she dies, you get _nothing_.”

“Are you saying that if she _doesn’t_ die, I get something?”

Regina remained silent, only glaring at the man.

“Fair enough,” He said after a long while, “I guess it makes sense for me to not break my toys instantly.” With the wave of his hand, a thick blanket appeared over Emma, as well as a small cup of water which appeared within her arm’s reach. “But you get nothing.”

“So long as she’s fine, I’m good.”

“See you tomorrow.”

The door slammed again, and for a moment Regina found herself worried that it might’ve woken Emma.

 _There it is again_ , she thought to herself _, you care. Why do you care?_

The Sheriff had insinuated that she loved Emma. But that wasn’t possible. Emma was everything she wasn’t – Emma had ruined everything for her so many times, Emma currently had her son, Emma was in the way of her and her happiness. She couldn’t possibly care for her – or could she?

 _It’s just because of Henry,_ Regina decided _, his heart would break if something were to happen to his precious Emma._

But even she couldn’t lie to herself. She enjoyed being with Emma, and had found herself wondering about her whereabouts at the strangest of times. Of course, Emma clearly didn’t like being with her – she hated her. And Regina had thought she hated her, too.

“But I don’t hate her.” She murmured to herself.

Little did she know that Emma was awake and heard those words. Of course, she was practically unconscious and sleepy and in extreme pain, but through all the haze she heard those words loud and clear. She had heard Regina when she had begged the Sheriff to spare her life, and now on top of all that she was feeling she also felt confused.

She didn’t know she’d spoken until she already had. It was as though the words just slipped out of her, ran away without any consent from her mind or her heart. Nevertheless, the last words that Regina heard before falling asleep rang in her mind even long into her dreams.

“I don’t hate you either.”


	2. She Said No

Emma awoke to see the Sheriff with a knife pressed against Regina’s throat. She tried to get up, which caused immense pain to erupt from her back, and she fell back down with a loud groan.

“Oh, look, your girlfriend woke up to see the show.”

The goblins were back, and upon seeing the whip Emma shivered in anticipation for pain despite knowing it wasn’t meant for her. She hurt so bad she couldn’t even think – she couldn’t even properly see because tears were welling up in her eyes constantly. It was also cold, and she pulled the blanket tighter around herself to try and ward off the chills.

A tiny bead of blood ran down Regina’s neck as she pressed forward and growled: “She’s not my girlfriend.”

“Oh, I think she is.” The Sheriff laughed. “It makes everything more fun.”

He pulled away the knife and walked to the goblin, grabbing the whip from it’s hand. “Last chance…”

Regina braced herself for the blow. Even so, the burning pain was enough to make her cry out as she was blinded by the sheer shock. The Sheriff laughed and raised his hand, then brought it back down to inflict a second lash onto Regina.

“No!”

In all essence, it was like the room exploded. There was a surge of energy which wiped out the Sheriff and his goblins, sending them flying towards the far end of the cave. The walls shook and the ground trembled, and the very material of the shackles fell apart as though it were sand. Regina fell forward, and only barely managed to catch herself before her face collided with the floor. Rocks fell from the ceiling as the cave continued to shake and tremble, and small chasms and cracks began appearing in the floor and the walls.

Regina turned to look at Emma, who was curled up, her hands hiding her face. She was shaking, trembling, but this was something new. In an instant, Regina realised that Emma was causing the shaking, and she scrambled over to the blonde.

“Emma, stop.” She cried as the ceiling began to crack. “You’re going to kill us if you don't stop.”

But Emma only trembled and cried. It was clear that she had lost control – she no longer even knew what she was doing. Ignoring the stinging pain in her back, Regina grabbed Emma by the shoulders and yanked her up, despite knowing that the movement caused immense pains in the woman’s wounds.

“Come on, Emma, we have to go _now_.” She tried pulling Emma with her, but stopped when a part of the ceiling came falling down right before them. The boulder which fell was so large that upon colliding with the wall, it broke through, creating an alternative escape route for them.

“Dammit Swan…” Regina groaned as she dragged the blonde along. Realising she couldn’t walk properly because of her pains, the woman crouched down and ordered her to get onto her back. Emma obeyed, and Regina was surprised to find that she barely weighed anything at all. She hurried out of the cave, carrying Emma, and ran away without even stopping to look back.

She managed to get almost quarter of a mile until she heard Emma groaning and decided to stop. She lowered Emma to the ground, and took the blanket from her before letting her sit down on top of it, wrapping it around her tightly. The blonde looked feverish and exhausted, her cheeks red and hot, her breath laboured and sporadic.

“Emma. I need you to take this bracelet off of me.” She spoke quickly, noticing that Emma looked as though she was about to fall asleep. She slapped her face gently a couple of times, doing all she could to keep the blonde awake. “Come on, Swan, you have to. We’ll both die here if you don’t do it.”

Emma groaned and leaned her face against Regina's hand. All she wanted was to sleep, to get away from the pain that clouded her every thought and feeling. She could barely see from the pain, and so she reached out and grabbed Regina’s hand and felt her way to the cuff.

“What do I do?” She mumbled.

“Use magic. Think it off.”

Emma tried to concentrate. She really did. But the pain was too invasive, and she sighed in frustration when she realised she couldn’t do it.

“I can’t.”

Regina brought up her other hand and placed it on Emma’s shoulder. “You have to. Otherwise you’re as good as dead.”

Emma sighed and tried again. A small, weak pulse left her hand, and the cuff fell away in an instant. The effort, however, drained her so much that she fell backwards into the snow. Regina picked her right back up and then transported the two of them to her castle.

Each little wince and whimper that came from Emma made Regina’s heart twist and her stomach churn with worry as she made her way to her bedroom. She laid the blonde onto the bed with the utmost care, and stood above her for a lingering moment, just watching.

With the wave of a hand Emma’s clothes were changed from the wet, cold and torn remains of her clothes into a warm shirt and leggings.  In the same motion, she willed every fireplace in the room to light, and almost instantly the room grew warm.

Regina had never been very good with medical magic. She knew the basics, and knew how to save someone’s life if necessary. She could’ve willed the wounds away from Emma completely, but the price of that was too hard to predict. Most likely, cheating her way out would’ve only resulted in a worse outcome.

She took the time to make some ointments and potions which would heal Emma in due time. When she came back, she was surprised to find Emma awake and watching her quietly.

“Regina…” The blonde mumbled, a faint smile on her lips. “I’m dying, aren’t I?”

Regina shook her head and sat beside Emma, helping her up into a sitting position. “No, you’re not. Drink this.”

Emma pushed the bottle away and frowned. “You’re not poisoning me, are you?”

“Sadly, I’m not.” The woman sighed, feeling slightly hurt. “Please drink it.”

“What is it?”

“To lower your fever. You’re burning up.”

“Will I die if I don’t drink it?”

“Certainly.”

Emma took the bottle and drank the potion, grimacing at it’s foul taste. “It’s disgusting.”

“Sorry.” Regina smiled carefully. “Can you, um…lay on your stomach? I need to put this on your back.”

Emma shuffled over and turned so that she lay on her stomach. “You probably need the shirt away, huh?”

“Yes.” The black-haired woman looked away when Emma took off the shirt, and waited a while longer before turning back to find Emma on her stomach with her top bare. She couldn’t help but feel disgusted when she saw the lashes on her pale skin – dark red and oozing with blood and yellow pus. The skin was actually burned off in many places, tiny scraps of skin hanging from the worst burns. There were bruises, too, especially around her neck where Merlin had choked her. There were leaves and dirt and gravel in the wounds, evidently from the cave floor as well as from the forest. She carefully ran her hand over Emma’s back and cleaned the wounds with magic before reaching for the ointment.

“This might sting.” She said quietly, placing one hand on her shoulder as the other spread some of the ointment onto Emma’s back. Immediately as she did so, Emma gasped, her hands gripping the mattress tightly as the burning, stinging pain ran over her. She tried to get away, but Regina’s hand on her shoulder kept her from moving.

“Sting!? The damn thing hurts more than the devil!” She cried, burying her face into a pillow in an attempt to smother her pained groans.

“I’m sorry. It’s for your own good, I promise.” Regina reassured. She waited a little bit, then asked: “Can I continue?”

Emma buried her face into the pillow and nodded. Slowly, bit by bit, Regina spread the ointment onto her back, giving her enough time to recover from the pain before continuing on. She could see Emma’s fists were pale white from gripping the pillow so hard – the muscles on her back were incredibly tense, and every touch resulted in a jolt and a smothered cry from the blonde. Every moment of pain which she knew was her fault made Regina feel so awful she felt sick to her stomach. Nevertheless, she knew she had to keep going.

When she was finally done, Emma felt as though her entire back was on fire. Slowly, the pain resided, until it was only a throbbing, dull pain in the back of her mind. She was then offered one final potion by Regina.

“For the pain.”

“Now you offer it?”

“It wouldn’t’ve worked until I put on the ointment.” Regina said apologetically. She glanced at the bandages which lay beside her on the bed. “Now, for these…sit up.”

“No need to be so bossy.” Emma grumbled as she sat up, facing away from Regina. She was very aware that she was half-naked in front of the woman, and was determined to keep at least her last shred of dignity.

“I’ll wrap it around here and you wrap it up front – we’ll pass it back and forth.” Regina said as she began bandaging. Slowly, taking breaks to allow Emma to adjust to the pain, they passed the bandage back and forth until Emma’s entire back was effectively covered.

While Emma laid back onto the bed and settled in, Regina got her a sleeping potion to ensure her a calm, deep sleep. When she came back, she found Emma buried under the duvet almost completely and was struck by how similar it was to how Henry tucked himself in.

“Before you drink this – you hungry?”

“Why do you care?” Emma mumbled. She was still laying on her stomach. She didn’t see Regina’s face when she spoke, but the sudden tension made it clear that she had hurt the woman’s feelings. She sighed.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.”

“It’s okay, I-“ Regina stammered. “It’s okay.”

“Seriously, though – why did you save me? You could’ve left me in the woods, or in the cave…why didn’t you?”

“I- I couldn’t just leave you…it was for Henry. He would’ve never forgiven me if you died.”

“For Henry.” Emma repeated. “Of course.” She was too tired to start prying, despite the fact that she knew Regina was lying. It was a task best left for another day.

“Now, about food? Hungry?”

“I guess?”

“What would you like?”

After a meager amount of food, Emma downed the potion and practically knocked out on the spot. Regina took the extra time to make sure she was comfortably laying on her stomach and that she wasn’t going to suffocate – something she remembered doing when Henry was a baby.

She then grabbed a cape and headed over to the balcony. The air was cold and she could see her own breath, white and wispy in front of her. The snow covered the land everywhere she looked, making the darkness that much brighter. The moon was a thin crescent above the horizon, the stars like an endless sky of diamonds above her. She could see their reflections on the frozen lake below – it wasn’t covered with snow, most likely because the winds had blown the snow off it’s glass-like surface.

The world was so incredibly quiet.

Regina was suddenly overcome with just how lonely it was. She was practically alone in her old home, with apparently no way out. They had no magic beans, no ruby slippers or anything else of the sort. She was trapped.

But at least she wasn’t trapped alone. Regina glanced over her shoulder back into her bedroom, catching a glimpse of the blonde mess of hair which was the only sign that Emma was there, in her bed. Of all the people she could be stuck with, she couldn't believe it had to be her. To her, Emma was the root of almost all of her problems. And yet, she was ever so slightly glad that she was there.

She turned back to look at the world. Her kingdom. What use was it, really, when there was no one there for her to rule?

The cold, which had been slowly creeping through her skin, finally became too much and she hurried back inside. She conjured up another bed on the other side of the room and went there, collapsing into bed. She couldn’t fall asleep – trying to lay on her back gave her a painful reminder of the one lash she had on herself, and she bit her lip to stop herself from crying out.

She willed the ointment into her hand, and then proceeded to use magic to spread it onto herself. Sure enough, the burning hot pain that spread through her entire back had her groaning and cursing in no time at all. Regina was thankful that the sleeping potion she’d given Emma was powerful enough to keep her asleep through a hurricane – the last thing she would’ve wanted was to disturb her sleep.

When the pain finally subsided, she turned to lay on her side so that she couldn’t see Emma. She didn’t want any more distractions – she was exhausted. But when she closed her eyes, she could hear Emma’s voice in her head. The shrill, panicked ‘no!’ which the woman had screamed to stop the Sheriff from hurting her. Emma hadn’t said a word when she had been the one receiving the lashes – not a single word, not even a murmur had passed her lips. She could’ve stopped the pain at any time, had she had the strength and courage. Of all people, Regina knew how exhausting magic was. She also knew that what Emma had achieved today was far beyond what she was capable of, and way more than what Regina would’ve ever expected her to be able to do in that state. The fact that it was her own torture, not Emma’s, which had resulted in the reaction made Regina feel even more confused.

Or, not necessarily confused. A tiny glimmer of satisfaction was there, at the back of her mind. But there was also an overwhelming feeling of guilt – why hadn’t _she_ said anything when Emma was the one being hurt?

Of course, she knew the answer – she hadn’t wanted the Sheriff to know that she cared. That would’ve made Emma’s torment that much worse, that much more personal. Despite knowing there hadn’t been anything she could’ve done, and that what she did was indeed the _right_ thing to do…she also knew that her silence most likely made her appear cold and emotionless to Emma.

 _Just like she should expect,_ Regina thought _, since I am the Evil Queen. I’m a villain._ Tears welled up in her eyes, and she fought hard to keep them at bay. She had no intention of crying – not now, not ever.

She turned her face into the pillow and exhaled deeply. The effort of subduing the sobs and sadness made her shudder, but in the end she managed to calm herself enough that she could down a spoonful of the sleeping potion to force herself some sleep.


	3. Let Me Help You

Emma woke up the next morning feeling like she had been run over by a fiery truck from hell. Every muscle in her body was on fire, her back hurt so much she couldn’t breathe, and on top of all that, she had a hellish fever. She was sweating and freezing cold, despite the two duvets and countless blankets that lay atop her and the roaring fire that warmed up the entire room.

Everything around her was a haze – it was bright wherever she was, and the room was a large, open space. As her eyes grew more accustomed to the light, she turned so that she saw the bed that Regina was sleeping in. The woman was curled up, facing away from her, apparently deep asleep.

She turned back to her stomach, the pain in her back slowly growing and growing. The painkillers were clearly either wearing or already worn off, and she was soon engulfed in a world of pain.

Emma, consumed in her own discomfort, didn’t notice that she’d made a particularly loud whimpering noise, or the fact that she continued to groan and wince every now and then. Bit by bit, each noise invaded Regina’s sleep, until she was drawn to waking up. Upon hearing the pained noises Emma was making, she groaned and got out of bed. The marble floor was freezing cold beneath her feet, and she immediately cast a spell to raise the room temperature.

She found Emma laying on her stomach, her eyes open but hazy, and her face even more feverish than the day before.

“I’m dying…” Emma groaned, her voice slurring as though she were drunk.

“You’re not dying.”

“It hurts.”

“I’ll get the medicine.”

Regina came back a moment later with the same potions and ointments as the day before. The fever medicine kicked in almost immediately, but Emma was too weak to sit up by herself. Instead, Regina propped her up against herself, facing away, and carefully unwrapped the bandages. She made sure to avoid touching Emma, in an attempt to allow her to keep at least some of her dignity.

The bandages were soaked with blood and pus and sweat, and she immediately cast them into the fire. The gashes on Emma’s back, though still disgusting and horrific, did appear to look slightly better – there was a little less pus, and they were no longer bleeding. She had to hold Emma up with one hand while applying the ointment with the other – it was an awkward, painfully long moment, with one of her arms wrapped around Emma’s shoulders and the other giving her burning, horrible pain.

When the bandages were replaced and Emma had gotten a fair amount of pain killing potion, Regina conjured up some breakfast. Emma had no appetite whatsoever – she nibbled on an apple for an eternity before tossing it into the fire.

“I want to go home.” She whined, her voice slurring.

Regina looked at her incredulously. “Of course you do.”

“Is there any way? Can't you think of any?”

“No. There might be an answer in my books.”

“We can do that now.”

“I’ve already done some research.”

“How?”

“You’ve slept all day.”

Emma’s hand reached for Regina’s, who looked at the blonde in confusion. “Thank you.” She murmured the words with a smile on her lips.

“It’s…quite alright.”

“Why’d you lie to me?”

The sudden change of topic caught Regina off guard. “What do you mean?”

“When I asked why you saved me. You lied.” Emma’s hazel eyes stared into Regina’s. “I have a superpower, remember?”

“Ah. Well…I don’t exactly know what you want to know.”

“Why did you save me?”

“For Henry.”

“You’re lying.”

“No I’m not.”

“Yes you are.”

“Fine, I saved you because I didn’t want you to die.”

Emma groaned. Though what Regina had said was true enough, she knew it was only part of the truth. She wanted to know it all.

“Alright, why do you care if I die or not?” She continued.

“Because of Henry.”

“Lie.”

“I don’t know what else I’m supposed to say!”

“How about the truth?”

“I didn’t want you to die because I’m a decent person?” Regina tried, but even to her that sounded incredulous. “Alright fine, that’s not it. I don’t know, alright?”

“You’re lying about not knowing. You do know.”

Regina took a deep breath. “I guess it’s because I’ve grown to care for you.”

“Care? For me?” Emma giggled a little, then became serious again. “That's... thanks for the truth.”

“That’s it?” Regina demanded. “How about you, then? Why is it that you didn’t stop the pain when it was inflicted on you but when it was happening to me you did?”

Emma shrugged and looked away. “I don’t know.”

“Even I can tell that’s a lie. Come on, you pushed the truth out of me it’s only fair you do the same.”

“I can’t tell you.”

“I just told you I care for you. What is so bad you can’t tell me?”

“I didn’t want you to be hurt.”

“Why not?” Regina snapped. “Why should you care?”

“Because…I don’t know. I care about you too.”

“But why? I’ve been nothing but horrible to you. I haven’t done a single good thing for you, ever. How could you possibly care?”

“Because you’re just as alone as I am!” Emma snapped, her eyes glaring at Regina. “Alright, that’s why. I- I feel bad for you, okay, and I understand why you do the things you do. Not all of them but most. You’re a screw-up, just like me.”

“You feel bad for me?”

"Oh don't look so offended." Emma quipped, rolling her eyes. "You try so hard but ultimately you've made some really bad choices and they keep backfiring at you."

"Well-"

"I don't understand you. I thought I knew you, but now I'm just confused."

“I don’t understand.”

“You begged for the Sheriff to spare my life. I’ve never heard you beg in my life, Regina. I never thought I would, not for anyone except maybe Henry. And you saved me, and you’ve been so gentle with me. You're taking care of me - I thought hell would freeze over before that would happen.”

“So?” Regina asked. "Why did you stop my torture?"

“I don’t want to see you hurting because it hurt me.” Emma mumbled. “I can’t explain it.”

“Fair enough,” Regina sighed. She noticed Emma was swaying slightly, her eyes drooping as though she were about to pass out. “Look...don't wear yourself out. Rest. I’ll figure out how to get back to Henry.”

She got up and headed over to the fireplace, where she’d set up with piles of books surrounding one armchair. Before she got too far, though, she heard Emma flop down on the bed.

“I’m sorry I’m so useless.” Emma called out before turning to her side and falling asleep in an instant. Regina froze and turned around, a sympathetic look on her face.

“You’re not useless.” She said softly, knowing Emma couldn’t hear her.

* * *

She went through an endless pile of books, and found absolutely nothing. There were no spells, not even a hint at one. Their chances of getting back home looked more than bleak - they looked to be non-existent.

Every couple of hours or so, she would head over to the bed to check on Emma. The blonde was tossing around in her sleep, and thus her blankets needed to be put back on top of her every now and then so that she wouldn't get cold.

The fifth time Regina was tucking Emma in, she noticed the woman was distressed. Her face was scrunched up with pain, and in her sleep she was muttering protests, begging for someone or something to stop.

“Please…no…”

Regina sat beside her and placed a hand on Emma’s shoulder to try and calm her. Emma, however, shot right up with a cry. She sat there, staring at Regina, for a good while – and then burst into tears. Before she could even react, Emma had fallen into Regina’s arms, who was completely surprised and dumbfounded by this action. The blonde’s head rested against Regina’s shoulder, and the woman could feel the sobs shaking her entire body. Slowly, and ever so carefully, she reached her arms out around Emma, trying her best to not touch her back so to avoid giving her any unnecessary pains.

“It’s…okay.” She stammered, her voice soft and tentative. She felt Emma breathe in sharply against her, and pulled back slightly to allow the blonde to have some space.

Emma turned her face away, embarrassed about what she’d done. “I-“ But she couldn’t speak, for the sobs came back, breaking through her chest and causing her to just want someone’s arms around herself. It didn’t matter that they were Regina’s.

But to some extent, it did.

She bit her lip and looked up at Regina. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“I just…I need a hug.”

“Oh.” Regina stared at the blonde for a bit, unfamiliar in the face of such raw emotion, but soon shuffled in closer to allow Emma to wrap her arms around herself. “A-alright.”

Emma knew she was making Regina uncomfortable. She knew that the last thing the woman most likely wanted was to be hugging her – and yet, a tiny voice in the back of her mind begged to differ. She _had_ , after all, admitted to caring for her. And Emma couldn’t deny that she didn’t quite like the feel of resting her head against Regina’s shoulder.

“What’s…wrong?”

Emma could feel how tense Regina was, and waited a long moment to gather herself before answering. “I just…had a bad dream.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“Do _you_?”

“I-“

“No, we don’t need to. I just felt alone.”

“I see.”

“Sandman clearly isn’t a fan of mine.”

“What did you say?”

“Sandman-“

“Sandman!” Regina cried, jumping up suddenly and running to her books. Emma, utterly confused, swung her legs over the edge of the bed and stood up to try and follow her. She felt weaker than ever, but Regina was onto something and she had to know what it was.

She managed to take four steps before a wave of nausea and exhaustion ran over her, draining her and causing her to collapse onto the floor.

“Ow.”

Regina looked up and was surprised to find Emma on the floor. She ran over immediately, a look of concern on her face.

“What did you do?”

“I wanted to come over and see what you were doing.”

“Come on, you can’t get out of bed. You haven’t eaten in _days_ , how do you expect to have strength?” Regina grumbled as she lifted Emma up and half dragged, half carried her to the bed. She conjured up a plate of food and placed it into Emma’s hands. “Eat. I’ll come tell you if I find anything.”

Emma scowled at Regina, but only as a joke. The woman chuckled and headed back to her books, leaving Emma to try and stomach the overwhelmingly full plate of food.

“Do you really expect me to eat all of this?”

“It’s been three days since you’ve had a proper meal. Eat.”

So she dug in. The first few bites made her feel like she was going to vomit, but after a while she grew hungrier and hungrier. By the time Regina came back, the plate was almost completely clean, as was the goblet of water which had sat on Emma’s bedside.

“Good, dear, you’ll have your strength back in no time.”

She had brought over a rather large book, which she now spread into Emma’s lap. “I figured out how we’re getting home.”

“Sandman?” Emma exclaimed as she read the title of the page. “Don’t tell me he’s real, too.”

“He is.”

“What about Santa? Or the Easter Bunny?”

“Oh, honey...I killed Santa.”

Emma stared at Regina, wide-eyed, her mouth hanging open. She looked so ridiculous that Regina couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

“I’m so sorry…it was so easy.” She laughed as Emma began to realise she had only been joking. “Too easy.”

“Screw you!” Emma cried, swatting Regina on the shoulder. “I really thought you ruined Christmas!”

“It was just a joke,” Regina replied, a smile tugging at her lips. “Don’t worry. I don’t know anything about Santa.”

Emma rolled her eyes. “So how is Sandman getting us home?”

“Through the Netherworld.”

“How?”

“Well…we’ll call to him. I happen to have something he wants. And then we’ll ask if he’ll let us pass through realms.”

“And you think that’ll work?”

“It’s as good a plan as any.” Regina shrugged. “Which is why you need to get your strength back. We can’t waste any time, but I don’t know how exhausting the trip will be.”

“I don’t think one meal will help me that much-“

“I charmed the food – just a little bit, don’t worry – just enough to give you that kick start. Try walking now.”

Emma cocked an eyebrow, but obliged. When she stepped onto the floor, she was surprised to find her legs no longer felt like spaghetti. Though she was certainly not as strong as she would have liked, it was still a vast improvement, and she beamed at Regina. “Thank you.”

“Oh don’t thank me yet.”

“Regina?”

“Yes?”

But Emma just blushed and looked away, leaving Regina smiling and just about knowing what she was about to say.

“Here. I’m going to go make some more potions, and then we’ll redo your back before I call for Sandman.”

“Ugh. No.”

“Emma…either you suffer the pain or you die. Your choice.”

“I find it so funny that you don’t want me to die.”

“How come?”

“You’ve tried to kill me so many times before.”

“Trust me, I haven’t. Hurt you, yes. Stop you, yes. But not kill you.”

“Why not?”

“Because my curse would’ve broken if I did.”

“That’s half a lie.” Emma pointed out. “What’s the truth?”

“I like having you around.”

“But you still like causing me trouble.”

“What trouble have I caused you lately? None.”

Emma suddenly realised this, and stared at Regina for long. “You’re…right, I guess.”

“I really am trying to redeem myself. Not just for Henry…but everyone.”

“I…I get that.”

“Now…for the ointment.”

Emma groaned but still did as she was told, pulling off her shirt and allowing Regina to undo her bandages. The pain, though still bad, was already significantly better, and for the first time she was able to concentrate and secretly enjoy the soft, gentle touches of Regina’s fingers on her back.

 When she was done, Regina headed over to her wardrobe and pulled out warm clothes for the journey. Emma came over and picked her own – a white shirt, followed by a black sweater and black leather-ish leggings type pants.

“Do you own anything that isn’t black?”

“No…not really.”

“And why on earth do you have a knitted sweater? It doesn’t exactly match your wardrobe.”

“I might have picked up knitting at a time or two.”

“You!?” Emma exclaimed, failing to hide the disbelief from her voice.

“I’ll have you know I’m quite good. I even made Henry a bunch of clothes when he was little.”

“You’ll have to show me when we get back.”

And just like that, the tension was back. Regina turned around, an incredulous look on her face.

“You act like we’re friends.”

“Aren’t we?”

“I- hadn’t thought of that.” Regina stammered. “Hadn’t realised-“

“Henry’s our son and the least we can do is be friends. If not for us, then for his sake.”

“That makes sense.” Regina said. “I just…I don’t know, didn’t expect you could overcome all that I’ve done to you, or your family.”

“I’ll admit it’s a lot of work but I’m trying my best. Everyone deserves at least that.”

 _Didn’t think I deserved anything_ , Regina thought to herself. Nevertheless, she smiled at Emma.

“You ready to go?”

Emma made a face. “Actually…”

“What?”

“I’m a little hungry.”

“Good.” Regina grinned. “You’re improving fast.”


	4. Let's Go Home

Once their stomachs were full and they were ready, Regina brought up an hourglass and shattered it onto the ground. The sand from within scattered onto the black marble tiles, and for a moment nothing happened. Then the sand began expanding – where it first had barely covered one tile, it now covered the entire floor, and snaked up along the walls until the entire room was covered in golden, shimmering sand. Pillars of sand began falling from the ceiling, and soon it was as though they were standing inside an hourglass themselves.

“Why have you called for me?” Bellowed a voice from all around them.

“Sandman,” Regina said, her voice oddly chipper. “It’s been too long.”

“What do you want, Regina?”

Emma leaned in and whispered into Regina’s ear. “What did you do to _him_?”

“Nothing, just tricked him a little.”

“A little? You stole my sand!”

“I never used it!”

“Sand-stealers are the reason why I never come to the Enchanted Forest any more.”

“Mind showing yourself?” Regina asked. “It’s a little eerie talking to the walls.”

A pile of sand next to them materialized into a short, plump man with a pointy hat and a short, golden beard. He huffed and crossed his arms, shooting daggers at them. “What do you want, Regina?”

“I want to pass into another realm.”

“And which realm would this be?”

“Storybrooke.”

“Your curse? Whyever would you want to go back?”

“Unfinished business.”

“What makes you think I’ll help you?”

“Because I…have this.” Regina spoke slowly, in an entirely different tone of voice than before. This was the voice of a queen – not just that, but the voice of _the_ queen. She pulled out a small vial containing a tiny black rock.

“Is that-“

“Why yes it is. Now you can take a nap whenever you like.”

“What is it?” Emma asked. She hadn’t even noticed how close to Regina she was standing, let alone the fact that she was gripping the woman’s arm. Now that she did, she was too afraid to let go for a very simple reason: she was standing inside an hourglass, bargaining with _Sandman_ for passage through the Netherworld into her own world.

“A moonrock. They’re the rarest in all the realms. One touch from this grants you just as much sleep as you wish for.”

“You’re granting Sandman the gift of…sleep?”

“Well you see, he can’t sleep because of his duty – he can’t put himself to sleep, now can he?” Regina explained quietly. “Do we have a deal?” She called to the man before her. “You grant us safe passage to Storybrooke and you get this.”

“Deal.” Sandman jumped up and snatched the vial from Regina’s hands. “Although how safe your passage is…depends on you. A word of advice – my gift to you. To pass through and not lose each other, you will have to form the most binding of all bonds known in the magical realms. You know which one – after all, it is the only one which is strictly forbidden. You must also know that if two go in, two must also leave the Netherworld. If one of you leave without the other, you will both die. That is the law of the Dreams.”

He looked at Emma, then at Regina. “You are fools to think this’ll work. But that is good. Fools have faith, and faith you will need to get out of the land of Sleep.”

He then produced a small amulet which he gave to Regina. “When you’re ready to Sleep, wrap this around both your necks and circle it twice. No more, no less. Don’t forget to look.”

“Look at what?” Regina exclaimed.

“The amulet, of course.”

“And what of the bond? It is forbidden for a reason!”

“All things come with a price.” Sandman mused. “Yours will be the bond.”

“Will we not be destroyed the instant we do it? Since, you know, it is forbidden?”

“Oh, my dear – it is only forbidden so that people don’t do it. Even if it wasn’t…it simply isn’t done. But that is the law of the Netherworld.”

The sand around them began falling away, the golden grains peeling away from the walls and floors to reveal the marble and glass beneath.

“Don’t let the bed bugs bite.”

With that, Sandman was gone. The sand, was gone too, and the room fell eerily silent.

After a moment, both women became very aware of the fact that Emma’s hands were still gripping Regina’s arm. She moved away, blushing slightly, but Regina saw and smiled to herself.

“Well…” She sighed, “What did you think of Sandman?”

Emma shrugged. “Weird. What did he mean by the bond?”

“Blood bond.”

“Blood?” Emma exclaimed. "What?"

“We bind ourselves by mixing out blood. It's...well, it's forbidden in all planes of our existence. Nobody knows why, it's been too long since anyone has ever attempted it.” Regina told her. 

"Then why are we doing it?"

"Because we need to get back to Henry."

"But how could the Sandman ask us to do this thing if it's forbidden?"

"He was merely restating the rules of the Netherworld. He is merely it's guardian, not it's master."

"And the Netherworld-"

"Is ancient."

Emma sighed. “What do we do?”

Regina produced a knife from the belt on her thigh. “We mix our blood.”

“Will it hurt?”

“Most likely.”

“And there’s no other way?”

“You heard Sandman.”

Emma looked at the knife, then back at Regina. “You first.”

Regina did exactly that. She took the knife into her palm and squeezed her hand around it, then pulled the knife out in one slow motion. Blood trickled and pooled in her palm as she cleansed the knife with magic and handed it to Emma.

“Your turn.”

Emma grimaced as the knife cut into her palm, and bit her lip to stop herself from cursing because of the pain. Of course, it was nothing compared to the pain in her back, but nevertheless, it hurt.

Regina held out her hand and looked at Emma expectantly. “Take my hand.”

Emma raised her eyes to look into Regina’s. The woman smiled gently, trying to be reassuring, and that was enough to make Emma trust her and take her hand. Immediately as she did, a surge of heat ran through her arm and to her heart. From the look on Regina’s face, she knew that the woman felt the same thing. Her hand gripped Regina’s tighter as the heat grew, and light began spilling from in between their fingers. It was bright, silvery, and blinding – they both had to look away as an orb of light engulfed their hands. They no longer could let go of one another, and they proceeded to cover their eyes as the orb grew and enveloped the two of them within itself.

“What now, Regina?” Emma cried. They were floating in the air, surrounded by the blinding light and strange sounds – like whispers, only there were thousands and thousands of them, coming from all directions.

“I…” Regina groaned, squeezing her eyes shut as “I don’t know!”

“What do you mean you don’t know?”

“I-“

_Welcome._

Both Emma and Regina froze as they heard a woman’s voice in their heads. They looked at one another, both equally confused.

“Who speaks?” Regina called out. “Tell us your name?”

_In the ancient times long lost and forgotten, people knew not to speak my name in vain. I am the phantom queen, the greatest of queens – the Morrígan._

_I was both feared and loved, for I alone had the power to grant the greatest blessing of all. It is that blessing which you have asked for. But I must warn you – there is a price. Many have been corrupted by my gift, and I truly wish you will not follow suit._

“What is it?” Regina asked, her voice wavering and afraid. “What is the price?”

_It is not a price comparable to those which your magic demands. You have already contributed part of the price – the blood which you have mixed and committed to my name. Each drop that falls here in the Midlands is a sacrifice to me and my power. The rest is already arranged for. But you must promise me one thing._

“Yes?” The both of them spoke at the same time.

_I was once the patroness of many wars and battles. Now that I am forgotten, I have lost that thrill. Promise me you will win a fight in my name, and you shall have what you desire._

“Deal.” This time, it was Emma who spoke. Regina looked at her in awe, having not expected her to agree at all. “Deal indeed.”

_This blessing can make you both stronger than you could have ever imagined, greater than you ever thought – but only if you commit. There will be much to learn, and so I give you these words to live by: together you can conquer anything, apart you slowly crumble. This is a blessing, but some call it a curse – that all depends on whether or not you are worthy of it. I deem you so. Do you accept this blessing?_

Regina glanced at Emma, who was staring at her with a frightened look on her face. She nodded carefully, then opened her mouth to speak.

“Yes, I do.”

“And I do too.” Emma added, though her voice sounded weak and small in the vastness of the light.

_Let it be so. You have given your sacrifice, and my name will once again ring in the lands of mortals._

The light died down, and the two of them fell to the ground. Despite the fact that they were in broad daylight, after the brightness of the Midlands the day looked as dark as night. They both blinked, tears in their eyes, fighting to be able to see yet again.

After a while, they recovered and noticed that their hands were still clasped together. Hastily, they pulled apart, only to discover identical scars on their palms in the shape of a triskelion.

Emma ran her finger on the scar, marvelling at the smooth, red skin which seemed to have been there for years instead of seconds. Regina, too, looked at her hand, chills running down her spine as she realized just how powerful the woman she had made a deal with was.

"What..." Regina stammered. "What did we do?"

Emma shook her head, equally as shocked as Regina. There was a long, painful moment of silence, which ended when Regina spoke.

“Do you feel any different?”

“No…do you?”

“No.”

“Huh.”

“Anyway…” Regina pulled out the amulet and raised her eyes to meet Emma’s. “Ready to go home?”

She lifted the chain over Emma’s head so that they both stood relatively close to one another. Emma kept looking at Regina as the woman lifted the amulet up.

“Here goes nothing.”

She spun the amulet once, and they both began feeling woozy.

A second spin, and the both of them fell towards the ground, fast asleep. Neither of them ever hit the floor – before they could, they had disappeared altogether, gone into the lands of Dreams.


	5. Don't Let The Bedbugs Bite

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *trigger warning* there is a scene with both physical and sexual abuse

One moment, she was standing before Regina, watching the amulet spin. The next, Emma found herself laying in the backseat of her car. Below her was Regina, who awoke moments later and pushed her off herself while grumbling inaudible complaints.

“Did we do it?” Emma asked, her face lighting up.

“Emma…” Regina’s eyes were lowered, and Emma followed her gaze, only to give a little shriek when she saw what she was looking at.

They were sitting in the backseat, yes, but on that backseat lay also Neal. Their bodies went through his, or his through theirs, as though they were projections.

“What-“

“It’s a dream.” Emma said quickly, her eyes staring out of the window.

“Well I can see that, but where are we?”

“Hush.”

Regina stared at Emma, open-mouthed, about to protest. She didn’t, for the next second she saw a familiar figure outside the car door. The blonde hair was unmistakeable, despite the glasses that the clearly much younger Emma wore.

“You _stole_ your car?” Regina exclaimed as she watched younger Emma break into and successfully hijack the car that they sat in. “No wonder you got sent to jail.”

“Hey,” Emma snapped. “You have literally murdered people.”

“Yes but I didn’t get arrested for them.”

“I didn’t get arrested for this, either.”

“So we’re in your dream.”

“My memories, actually.”

“Is this…before Henry was born?”

“Yes.”

They followed along for another hour or so. Regina was more than bored – watching adorably naïve young Emma fall for the future father of her child was anything but pleasant for her. The only comfort she had was that she knew Emma was just as uncomfortable. She didn’t even have to look to know – she felt it herself, somehow.

Emma, too, sensed Regina’s discomfort and turned to look at her. “What do we do now? We’re in Dreamland. How do we get out, and at the right stop?”

“I haven’t got a single clue, dear.” Regina sighed. “I was hoping it’d be more like a yellow brick road or something.”

“You’ve watched Oz?” Emma asked in disbelief.

“Henry was obsessed with it from the ages of three to five. He refused to watch anything else.”

Silence fell over the two of them. Younger Emma and Neal chattered on up front, and for a long while they were both quiet.

“Emma? You okay?”

Emma was quiet for a while, thinking to herself before finally speaking up. “I just realised…you’re his mom. I mean his _real_ mom. You’re the one who changed the diapers and taught him to speak and to walk and everything else. I wish I could’ve done that for him, and I’m even sadder that I missed it. But…you did. And you did a great job. And I know I’m invading, but-“

“I know.” Regina sighed. “I didn’t like it at first, but I guess I’ve gotten used to it. You’re his mom, too. I thought I could be enough for him but I’m not – he needs more than just a mom. He needs a family and you can make that happen.”

“Regina…”

“No, really. My mother was a psychopath whom I killed and my father is also dead, and I have no friends. What family could I give him?”

“You have friends,” Emma protested, “What about Tink? Or me?”

“I-“ Regina sighed. “It’s pointless to whine about this. He’s our son and we’re both his mothers.”

“Exactly.”

Suddenly, the car swerved violently, causing the two of them to collide against the doors.

“What the hell?” Emma cried. “This never happened?” She looked over at the driver, only to find that both young Emma and young Neal were gone.

“Who’s driving the car?” Regina asked.

“I don’t know?” Emma replied as she scrambled over to the front seat and grabbed the wheel. She tried pushing the brakes, but they didn’t work. If anything, the car sped up. They were no longer driving on a motorway – it was the middle of the night, and they were speeding through the hills towards a mansion.

“Regina?” Emma called out. “When I say jump, jump!”

“What?”

“I can’t stop the car!”

“Well why didn’t you say so?” Regina asked. She waved her hand to try and use magic, but that only made the car speed up.

“What did you do?”

“I tried to fix it!”

“Well it didn’t work!” Emma snapped. “Jump!”

Simultaneously, the two of them slammed the doors open and jumped out of the speeding car, falling into the soft grass far more gently than they should have. The car continued on driving, and soon enough they could only see it’s headlights in the far distance.

Emma was laying on her back, groaning from the pain her back was giving her. She could see stars in the corners of her eyes, and for a long moment she felt as though she couldn’t breathe.

“Emma?” Regina called from further away.

“Regina…” Emma groaned loudly as another jolt of pain spread through her body. “My back.”

“Oh, crap.” Regina exclaimed as she came up to Emma. “You okay?”

“It hurts?”

“The ointment should last for a day or so. Here.” The woman reached into her pocket and retrieved a small vial of pain-killing potion. Emma downed it in one gulp, feeling it’s intoxicating effects almost instantly. She tried to stand up, but in all essence, it was like she was drunk. Every step from her was wobbly, and she felt incredibly woozy.

“Watch it.” Regina said as she slipped an arm around Emma’s waist to stop her from falling. Emma’s arm slung over Regina’s shoulders instinctively, and for a moment she simply stood against the woman, resting her head on her shoulder.

“I’m tired.” Emma slurred.

“You can’t fall asleep Emma.” Regina said hurriedly. “You can’t.”

“Why no-ot?” Emma whined. “I want to sleep.”

“I don’t know what happens if you sleep in the Netherworld, and I’m not about to find out.”

Emma pouted slightly. “But I’m tired.”

“Well ignore it and-“ Regina froze completely mid-sentence as she recognized the house that stood a couple hundred feet from them. More importantly, she felt her heart grow cold as she saw a small light bouncing along the path towards the stables.

The next thing she knew, they were in the stables. Before them stood young Regina and Daniel, looking so happy it made Emma feel uncomfortable. She had known Regina had once been in love, but it was one thing knowing and another seeing it in person.

“I take it this is your dream?” She asked, feeling slightly less sleepy already.

When there was no response from Regina, Emma turned to look at the woman. She looked shocked, terrified, as though she were witnessing a murder rather than a loving scene. Tears made her eyes look glittery, and Emma felt a pang of sympathetic pain in her heart upon noticing how sad Regina was.

She didn’t understand the reason until the stable doors slammed open and Cora marched in. She didn’t _truly_ understand until she watched Cora’s hand go into Daniel’s chest, retrieving his beating heart and crushing it while both young and real Regina cried out in protest. The real Regina stood there, next to Emma, frozen but crying as Daniel’s body fell to the ground and Cora whisked young Regina away from the scene.

The instant Cora was gone, Regina crumbled to the ground, sobbing quietly. Emma, still very much potion drunk, slumped down beside her and put an arm around her shoulders awkwardly. She didn’t speak – all she did was gently rub Regina’s shoulder as the woman continued to cry quietly.

In due time, Regina’s eyes grew dry and she managed to cease her sobs. Wiping at her eyes, she helped Emma up while looking extremely embarrassed and slightly broken.

“I’m sorry that you had to see that.”

“Nothing to apologize for.”

And then they were on a rock in the middle of the ocean, battling a giant squid with nothing but toothpicks in their hands. And then they found themselves in a fiery inferno with no way out, and then again in endless darkness with long, thin fingers reaching out to them from beneath.

They had run through at least a dozen nightmares when they suddenly burst through a door into a bedroom. It was dark and cold and austere to say the least – there were three beds along the wall, with three little girls sleeping in them. All three had matted, tangled hair and unnaturally skinny bodies – to Regina, it looked as though they hadn’t been fed in days.

“Is this your dream?” She asked quietly, expecting Emma to reply. However, when she heard no response, she turned around to find Emma leaning against the wall, clutching at her chest with a pained and frightened look on her face. Regina rushed over, instantly worried.

“What is it?”

Emma did not speak – she slid down against the wall and onto the ground, her whole body trembling as she curled up and hid her face away.

Regina stood back up and looked back at the little girls. Only now did she notice the girl on the far left, or to be more precise, her hair. Though it was tangled and matted and dirty, it was still the same platinum blonde that Emma had today. The girl must’ve been no older than eight or nine – Regina couldn’t help but feel slight adoration at the tiny little Emma before her.

The floorboards in the hall creaked to signal that someone was coming. The little girls all squirmed in their beds, whimpering in fear as the door opened and a man walked in. He had a foul stench of liquor floating about his presence, but in place of his face was a distorted, mask-like picture of one, as though Emma had tried erasing his face in her memories.

Regina watched, horrified, as the man walked over to the bed on the far right. The girl in the bed, who was maybe eleven or twelve, remained silent as he did his disgusting business with the girl. When he moved on to the girl in the middle, Regina came to the harrowing realisation that little Emma was to be the last.

She couldn’t bear watching as the man made his way to little Emma’s bed. She turned away and walked over to where Emma was sitting and sat down beside her, pulling the woman in closer as little Emma began crying.

“Hush, be quiet.” The man growled as he struggled with the squirming child. “You have a choice – either you let me do what I do, or I beat you. Which is it?”

Regina raised her head just in time to see little Emma punch the man in the throat, resulting in a wave of curses to be spit at her as the man ripped her out of the bed and threw her across the floor.

“You little bitch!”

Regina felt the real Emma tense against her, and instinctively pulled her even closer, placing one hand on the back of her head while the other was wrapped around her shoulders. “It’s okay.” She mumbled. “He can’t hurt you.”

Even she couldn’t bear watching the man beat the little Emma. She closed her eyes and buried her face into Emma’s hair, praying to whatever gods existed that he would stop. She tried to get away, knowing it was exactly what Emma was doing, but the cries and sobs of baby Emma still managed to pry their way into her head.

“Listen to me, Swan, it’s just a dream or memory or whatever. He’s not real, not anymore. Think about Henry. We’re going back to get him, and save him, and you can’t give up now and just keep listening to me until he stops, okay? Think about your parents. I mean, your dad is the dumbest, bravest man I’ve ever come across – and your mom? I’ve never met anyone so pure and naïve in my life. They’re your present, not this. Think about them and listen to me.” Regina just let the words fall out of her, not caring what she was saying, just making sure that she was speaking loud enough to cover up the horrifying noises of the dream. When the man finally stopped and left, she looked up to see little Emma curled up against the wall just like Emma was. The little girl was crying, but wiped the tears away angrily just like she had seen the real Emma do so many times. She watched as the girl stood up shakily, her lip bleeding and old and new bruises showing on her frail body, stumbled over to the bed and collapsed into it.

Regina loosened her hold of Emma and fell silent, moving farther away to give Emma some space. Emma, however, grabbed her and pulled her close again. “Don’t go.” She muttered, her hand gripping Regina’s arm so tightly it hurt. “Please.”

“I won’t.” Regina promised, putting her arm back around Emma. “I won’t.”

Emma pressed into the woman, not caring that it was highly inappropriate and weird. She needed this. She felt like she was breaking down into a million pieces – she would have done so already, but what Regina had done had been exactly what had kept Emma from breaking. The woman was the only thing keeping her in one piece, still keeping her sane, despite the fact that she had just lived her worst childhood dream in high definition.

Regina tried soothing Emma by rubbing her shoulder absent-mindedly as she thought. They were in an endless loop of nightmares and horrible memories – how were they ever to make it out?

Without even thinking, she reached down and picked up the amulet, which had been hanging from her neck the entire time.

_Don’t forget to look_.

She now looked at the amulet and instantly felt like the dumbest person in the world. There, inside what she had first perceived to be a large sapphire, was what looked like a door in the middle of a white field. As she looked, she saw Sandman’s shadowy figure come up to said door, and grab what looked like the amulet and casting it at the door. The door then opened up, revealing a portal behind it.

“Emma!” She cried. “I know how to get home!”

Emma scrambled to get her mind together before replying. “Wait…really?”

“Yes, yes I do – come, let’s leave.” Regina got up and grabbed Emma’s arm, pulling her up with her. “Let’s get out of this hellhole.”

She had recognized the locator spell on the amulet the instant she had held it in her hand. Now, knowing what it was supposed to locate, the amulet began leading her, and with her came Emma as they ran through dreams and nightmares, through endless doors and pathways and fields until they came to a standstill.

There, about a quarter of a mile from where they stood, stood a tall, blue door in the midst of a field of white grass. It was not snow which made it white – the grass itself was white as snow, and covered the land as far as the eye could see. Amidst the grass were large rocks, some feet tall, perfectly round and shimmering black.

“We made it.” Emma gasped, a weak smile on her lips.

“We did.” Regina replied. “Let’s go.”

She took a step forward, but was stopped by Emma. “Wait.”

“What is it?”

“I…I have a bad feeling about this.”

“About what? It’s an empty field.” Regina huffed, continuing to walk forward. Emma, however, became more alarmed.

“Look at the rocks, Regina.”

“What about the rocks?” Regina asked, turning to face Emma. “Come on!”

But then she turned and saw what Emma was talking about. The rocks were not rocks at all, but rather the sleeping forms of bugs the size of horses. They were black and reminded her of roly-polies, but no matter what they were she really did not like them.

Emma was now at her side. “We have to run.”

Regina agreed, remembering what Sandman had said: _Don’t let the bedbugs bite_.

“He was being serious!” She screamed as Emma grabbed her hand and they began running across the field. It seemed luck was on their side – the bugs moved much slower than they did, and in no time at all they were almost at the door.

The door was literally within an arm’s reach when Regina felt pain in her left hand. She turned to look and saw, to her horror, the jaws of a bug on her arm. She screamed and shook her hand, but it was too late – whatever poison was in the bug’s fangs had already made it’s way into her blood. She felt herself falling down, limp, but was caught by Emma who picked her up hurriedly and dragged her to the door.

“What do I do, Regina?”

Regina’s mind was a fog, her body completely paralyzed. She couldn’t open her mouth, let alone tell Emma what to do. The army of bugs was fast approaching – they were coming at them slowly, as though they knew they had no escape.

A glimmer of hope was all that Regina realized before all of a sudden she found herself standing at the door with her own body in her arms. Emma, on the other hand, found herself in Regina’s body, completely paralysed and _utterly_ confused.

Regina grabbed the amulet from her neck and cast it at the door, opening the portal. She then picked up herself and ran through with only one thing on her mind: _Home._


	6. You're In My Head(And I'm In Yours)

They landed on the beach not far from town. Still in each others bodies, Regina instantly ran over to her paralysed body and de-paralyzed it. It was eerie, watching herself wake up and sit up and talk.

“What…how did you know-“

“Sleeping poison. Didn’t know where it came from but I do know how to fix it. It’s poisons 101.” Regina replied, hearing herself speak in Emma’s voice.

“You’re in my body.”

“And you’re in mine.”

“How do we-“

They didn’t even finish the thought before they were back in their own bodies. It all happened in the blink of an eye, so quick and so unnaturally normal.

“What do you say, Swan?” Regina asked as she offered her a hand. “Want to go find that little jerk?”

Emma laughed and took Regina’s hand. “With pleasure.”

Regina transported them to the main street. It was quiet, despite it being midday – there were no people, no cars – nothing but the wind and the birds.

“You little menace!” Regina bellowed. “Come out, wherever you are! I have some unfinished business with you!”

“This is your plan?” Emma hissed at Regina. “A beatdown?”

“As good as any.” Regina chuckled. “I feel oddly…powerful.”

Emma couldn’t say that she didn’t feel it too – the surge of power which ran through her was enormous and exhilarating. It felt electric – the hairs on the back of her neck were standing, and she felt like she had just drank ten energy drinks in a row. She had never experienced anything like it, and she absolutely loved it.

There was a puff of green smoke and suddenly there was the jester. The little man looked absolutely outraged and surprised to find them standing before her, and she failed completely in trying to hide it.

“How did you escape the Enchanted Forest?”

“Oh, my dear, dear fool.” Regina laughed. “Did you really think that’d be enough?”

Tom le Fol huffed. “What makes you think you are anything against my liege?”

“The fact that he failed to show up.” Regina’s voice was regal again, dripping with power and confidence. “Isn’t it sweet? He’s got a pet to do his dirty work.” She directed her words to Emma, who only raised an eyebrow in response. She then turned to look at the jester and tutted. "He must be outraged that you failed to follow through with your task."

This outraged the jester, who stomped his foot furiously. “He has your son. And her parents. In fact…He has the whole town, and he could destroy them with the flick of his wrist.”

“No, he can’t.”

“What?”

“He doesn’t have them. I know for a fact that he hasn’t enacted whatever plan he had…not yet, anyway.”

The jester paled. “You can’t possibly know that.”

“You wanna bet on it?”

 “Emma, dear, you want to have a go at this little fool?” Regina asked, still in her eerie regal voice.

Emma was now thoroughly creeped out by Regina’s behaviour. She knew she was up to something – just what, well, that she hadn’t figured out just yet. But she also felt the exhilarating, intoxicating power that came from somewhere within – and she knew that Regina felt that same drunkenness as she did. She stepped forth and flicked her wrist, causing the jester to fly into the air and against the clocktower. Almost instantly, she felt intense pleasure spreading through every cell in her body, and she couldn’t help but grin.

Both Emma and Regina walked to where the jester stood, never cowering. “Now listen here, Tom.” Regina snarled. “I am not a coward. I have honour. And so I’m giving you and your…liege…a real chance. We’re letting you go…for now. Let’s see what he can come up with.”

“But touch our son or my family and you’ll wish you were dead.” Emma added with a glare.

Another puff of green smoke signalled the departure of the jester. A sudden wave of relief ran through both Emma and Regina, and they smiled at one another.

“Mom!”

The two were tackled by Henry, who had seen them from the window of Snow’s apartment and run outside instantly. After him followed Snow and Charming, both of them with a shocked look on their faces.

“I thought you were dead.” Henry cried as the two of them hugged him tightly.

This caused the both of them to freeze and stand back up. “What do you mean…dead?”

Emma’s parents had made their way over to them. Emma looked to Snow, who looked as though she was about to burst into tears.

“Mom?” Emma asked gently. “What did you think happened?”

Snow just shook her head and ran up to Emma, engulfing her in a hug. David had tears in his eyes, too, but he managed to remain calm enough to speak.

“The jester…he said she’d killed you.”

“And you believed him?”

“He did provide some staggeringly convincing evidence.” David told her. “He brought us your and Regina’s bodies. They looked so real – we even buried them. But obviously those weren’t you…or were they?”

“No.” Emma said. “He cast us into the Enchanted Forest.” A wave of nausea and exhaustion passed through her, and before she even knew she was going to fall she felt Regina’s arms catching her.

“We’ll have to speak later. She needs to rest, now.” Regina ordered.

“What’s wrong with her?” Snow cried.

“I’ll explain later. Can someone help carry her?”

David picked Emma up from Regina. “Hospital?”

“No. My house.”

They drove there at top speed, and before long Emma was laid onto Regina’s bed.

“What’s wrong with her?” Snow asked, her brows furrowed in worry. “She’s burning up!”

“We had a little mishap on the way.” Regina told her. Emma laughed in response, which in turn just caused her to groan more in pain.

“A little mishap?” She laughed. “Biggest understatement of the year.”

Snow looked from Emma to Regina and then back to Emma. “What happened?”

Regina walked past her with some jars and bottles in her hands. “You might want to leave for this.”

“For what?”

Regina looked up at David. “At least take my son and yourself out of here – take him outside or something. It’ll be fine.” The man nodded and led Henry out of the room, and down the stairs, ignoring the harrowingly worrying feeling in his gut.

Snow still stood there, watching Regina in disbelief. “What are you doing? Why wouldn’t I want to stay?”

Emma sat up and allowed Regina to pull off her shirt, causing Snow to gasp when she saw the bloodied bandages that covered her entire back.

“Last chance, Snow.” Regina said. “You can still go and keep your pristine mind clean of this.”

“No. She’s my daughter. I’m not going anywhere.” Snow insisted.

“Fair enough. But stay out of my way.”

Bit by bit, Regina peeled the bandages off of Emma. With each lash and cut that was exposed came a series of winces and whimpers from Snow’s direction – a subtle glance over to her direction showed Emma a crying, sobbing Snow, which made her heart twist in pain.

“Mom…it’s okay. It doesn’t-“ She had to pause to gasp as a particularly painful spot was unrevealed. “It doesn’t hurt so much.”

Regina rolled her eyes. “Come on, Swan, we both know that’s a lie.” She finished unwrapping the bandages and incinerated them in her hand as Emma laid onto her stomach. As she was unscrewing the jar, she noticed Snow had come up to stand behind her. She turned to see the woman was covering her mouth with her hand, a horrified look in her eyes.

“What…happened!?” She gasped.

“Mom-“

“She was tortured by some bandits and said nothing like the hero she is. That’s all you need to know for now. She’s in pain and every moment wasted is more pain for her.”

Regina turned back to Emma, who was all ready for the pain of the ointment. As she spread the first dab, Emma cried into the pillow, causing Snow to burst up behind Regina angrily.

“You’re hurting her!”

Regina rolled her eyes again and pushed Snow away. “I know. It can’t be avoided. This is the only way to heal her.”

Emma lifted her head from the pillow. “Mom, really- it’s okay.” Snow, however, shook her head and headed over to kneel beside the bed next to Emma’s head. “No, it isn’t, you’re in pain and we didn’t even know you were missing. We weren’t even looking for you.” She took Emma’s hand in her own and smiled through her tears. “You can grip as hard as you want. I’m not going anywhere.”

Emma smiled shortly before burying her head into the pillow again, her entire body tense as she waited for Regina to continue. When she did, she bit the pillow and cried, and gripped Snow’s hand so hard it hurt. Nevertheless, her mother never spoke a word, despite the fact that by the end her hand was severely bruised and in pain.

She watched Regina as she and Emma worked the bandage back on Emma’s wounded torso. She saw the caring looks and the sheer gentleness displayed by the two of them, and wondered what had taken place in the time they were gone.

In the real world, it had been two weeks since Emma and Regina had been ‘killed’ by the jester and his mysterious liege. Just that morning, Snow had woken yet again to cry for her loss. Now, the same evening, she was watching her former enemy tend to her wounded daughter, who was very much alive and changed.

“I’m done now. I can call your husband and my son in, if you’d like.”

Snow walked over and sat onto Emma’s bedside. The blonde lay on her back, and having downed a large dose of painkilling potion, was rather buzzed.

“Emma…what on earth happened?” She asked, her hands holding Emma’s ever so gently. David and Henry rushed in, and David proceeded to sit beside Snow while Henry ran to Regina.

“Mom.” He hugged her tight, and for the first time since coming back Regina allowed herself to relax.

“Henry.” Regina mumbled, pulling her son in and hugging him tight. She felt as though she might cry, but she swallowed the sobs and breathed heavily, just drinking in the moment. This was what she had wanted to come back for, and it was certainly worth it.

She glanced over and saw Emma and her parents talking quietly. From the looks on their faces it was obvious they were getting the whole story.

“And then Regina bribed Sandman to let us pass here.” Emma stopped for a second and glanced over at Regina. Their eyes met and Regina gave her head the tiniest shake.

_Don’t tell them_.

“And so we passed through the Netherworld, and we got lost on the way but in the end we made it here.” Emma finished, looking from Snow to David and then to Regina. She looked down at Henry and smiled gently. “Hey.”

Henry stepped forward and grinned. “Hey.”

“I’m okay.” Emma reassured him. “And I think your mom would very much like to tell you what happened. I’m too tired.” To prove her point she turned to her side and grabbed the sleeping potion, downing it in one go and falling asleep instantly.

Snow and David stood up together and looked at Regina.

“I-“ Snow began, but she shook her head. “I just…thank you.”

“Yes, thank you.” David chimed. “You saved her.”

“She saved me just as much.” Regina retorted. “But, uh…you’re welcome, I guess.”

“Now that she’s asleep I guess it’d be stupid to try and move her?”

“She can sleep here.”

“Can I, too?” Henry asked.

“Sure you can.” Regina smiled, feeling as though her heart were to explode. “I just…have some business to attend to, first.”

“What business could you possibly have right now? You just got back.”

“It’s my business.”

“Well…good night, I suppose. We’ll come back tomorrow morning.”

When the Charmings were gone, she turned to look at Henry. “Now…”

“I missed you.” Henry mumbled. “I didn’t want you to be dead.”

“Of course you didn’t, dear.” Regina said. “And it’s quite alright. Everything turned out fine.”

“But what happened?”

“How about I make you a cup of cocoa and I’ll tell you all about it?”

* * *

When Henry was all good and taken care of, Regina returned to the kitchen to just have a moment to herself. She breathed in, and out, and spent some minutes just breathing and trying to calm herself. The day had been long, and the past week even longer - being at home, with Henry and everything else settled, was all that she had wished and hoped for. The fact that Emma was fine, too, was one reason for her overwhelming relief.

Noticing the scar on her palm was very prominent, she went over to the medicine cabinet and pulled out a bandage, which she wrapped around her hand to conceal her mark. She knew nothing of this Morrígan, only rumors about the blood bond and how it was forbidden. For the time being, she figured it was better to keep it a secret.

As though she had had foresight, the doorbell rang. She glanced at the clock – it was well past regular visiting hours, so she knew it could only be one person.

“Mr. Gold.” She sighed as she opened the door. “Do come in.”

“I came here to personally welcome you back to the town.” He said.

“No you didn’t.”

“No, I didn’t. I came here to ask you how you did it.”

“Well, if you don’t know, then I’m afraid I’m at a loss.” Regina shrugged as she led him to the living room. “After all, you taught me everything I know.”

“I heard that you passed through the Netherworld. No one should be able to do that. You know that. And yet, it worked.”

“Perhaps I just really wanted to come home.”

“Perhaps…” Rumplestiltskin’s eyes ran over Regina, his brows furrowed in suspicion. “And yet…I have my doubts.”

“I’m just glad today worked out as it did.” Regina offered. “But I do have something to ask of you.”

“Ah, of course you do.”

“I want a day with unlimited access to all your books  and you out of the way from peeking and lurking. Let’s just say I’ll owe you one.”

“My books? What can you possibly hope to find there?” Gold exclaimed, his eyes gleaming at the thought of Regina owing him a favour.

“That’s none of your business.”

“Well if you told me I could maybe help-“

“No.” Regina stopped him. “Do we have a deal?”

“Fine. But the day starts now.” Rumplestiltskin waved his cane and piles and piles of books appeared in Regina’s living room, practically covering her in the process. “I think we’re done here.”

Regina saw him to the door, where he stopped and turned around. “Love the crow, by the way. Adds just a touch of…evil to the place.”

“What crow?” Regina asked. Mr. Gold’s eyes flashed as he opened the door and sauntered into the night.

“Didn’t know there to be any crows in Storybrooke.” He called. “Good night.”

Regina stood in the doorway, shivering in the chilly night, and stared down at her gate. There, perched on the gate, was the largest crow she’d ever seen. She watched as Gold walked right up and past it, the bird never moving anything aside from it’s head. When he was gone, it spread it’s wings and flew right up to the porch, landing only a few feet from Regina. She now saw it’s eyes – blood red and sparkly, much like rubies. They watched her intently, and the crow cawed once before spreading it’s wings and flying away.

She turned and headed back inside. As she passed the staircase, she was overcome by a fleeting sense of distress which was not her own. She froze and listened, and in the silence of the night she heard the tiniest little groan.

It was not Henry – his sleepy noises she would’ve recognized anywhere. No, this was Emma, and when she realised it she practically flew up the stairs and into her bedroom.

Emma was crying in her sleep, her hands hiding her face as she squirmed around on the bed. Regina came closer and sat beside her, and placed a hand on Emma’s to try and calm her. The instant they touched, she saw a flash in her mind – it was Emma’s nightmare again, the austere room with the three bedrooms and the foul man. She only saw it for a moment, but it was enough to tell her she had to wake Emma right away.

“Swan!” She whispered, shaking the woman gently. “Emma!” She had to whisper so to not alarm or wake Henry, but Emma was too deep asleep to hear her. Regina leaned in closer, her face above Emma’s, and repeated her name. “Emma!”

Emma woke with a gasp, her eyes bursting open to see Regina’s face mere inches from hers. She breathed in for a moment or two, then threw her arms around the woman and hugged her tight, feeling her entire body tremble as she fought back the tears. Regina in turn pulled Emma up into a better position, allowing the blonde to rest against her shoulder comfortably.

“The dream again?”

Emma nodded slightly, wincing as she recalled the dream. “I-“ She choked down a sob and pursed her lips tightly, determined not to cry.

“It’s not real.” Regina said softly. She could feel Emma's breath against her neck, causing shivers to run up and down her spine.

“But it is.” Emma winced. “It is real. It happened.”

“It happened years ago.” Regina told her. “He can’t hurt you anymore.”

“You see this?” Emma asked, pulling down the collar of her t-shirt to reveal a long, white scar on her clavicle. “That was him. I remember him _every day_. I can’t get away.”

Regina ran her finger along the scar, her brows furrowed slightly. “I can get rid of it if you want.”

Emma paused and stared at her with wide eyes. “You’d do that?”

“Of course.”

“Please.”

Regina’s finger pressed softly against Emma’s skin as she erased the scar away. The skin glowed red for mere seconds, and when the glow died away, the scar was gone and in it’s place was plain healthy skin. She reached over and handed Emma a hand-mirror, and watched in amusement as the blonde stared at her shoulder in awe.

“It’s…gone.” She gasped, tears in her eyes. “Thank you.”

“It was nothing.” Regina shrugged. “Do you want me to get you more sleeping draught?”

Emma shook her head. “I think…I’m good for now.” She glanced at the clock, then at Regina. “What are you doing up? It’s midnight.”

“I…couldn’t sleep.”

“Regina…” Emma groaned. “Don’t lie.”

“Rumplestiltskin came over.”

“What did he want?”

“He wanted to know how we came here, or rather why the way we took didn’t kill us in the process.”

“Did you tell him?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t really know.” Regina sighed. “I think it’s got to do with…you know.”

“This?” Emma asked, waving her hand in front of Regina. “I see you’ve covered it up.”

“I didn’t want him seeing it.”

“Why?”

“He banned me from ever using it. The only reason he told me about it was to warn me from ever mixing my blood with someone else’s.”

“Do you know what it is what we did?” Emma asked. “And what happened at the portal?”

“I’m trying to figure it out.” Regina told her. “I got him to give me his books for one day.”

“I’ll come help you look.” Emma declared.

“You should sleep.”

“I don’t want to sleep.” Emma said. She swung her legs over the edge of the bed and looked at Regina. “Ready to catch me in case I fall?”

“You won’t fall.” Regina told her.

Emma stood up, and took two wavering steps until she was caught by Regina.

“Guess I was wrong.” Regina sighed, rolling her eyes. “Come on, lets go downstairs.”


	7. There Are No Crows In Storybrooke

They spent hours upon hours flipping through the books, not finding any mention of the Morrígan. There were, however, some small snippets of information on the ‘phantom queen’ and some small mentions about ‘the greatest of queens’. In the books about blood magic, Regina could only find what the forbidden bond caused if failed – eternal damnation, death, the destruction of both parties’ souls – but it was all very vague and useless. They were not dead, nor were their souls lost; they were living as they were, but with strange side effects which thus far had yielded no harm.

“Here, Regina, listen to this.” Emma said. “Little is known about body swapping and it’s properties; only the strongest of magical creatures could in theory push a person’s soul out of their body and into another, thus giving them a vessel to take control of. However, this can only be achieved through years of preparation and with tremendous strain to the participants; reports say that over half of those who have attempted body swapping have later died of pure exhaustion, while all of those who have tried or succeeded report severe exhaustion and strain to their person both mentally and physically.”

“Does it say how it can be done?”

“No.”

“Didn’t Henry do it? With Pan, I mean?”

“Yes, but that was different. And you do remember he slept for almost two days after we rid him of Pan?”

“True.” Regina said. “Were you tired after we switched?”

“No, you?”

“No…” Regina paused, staring into space. “It doesn’t make any sense.”

“Well, she did say she was ‘long lost and forgotten’ so perhaps these books are too recent.”

“These are the oldest texts available.”

“Wait.” Emma said. “Do you have a computer?”

“Yes, in my home office – but why?”

Emma scrambled up and hurried out of the room, only to double back with an embarrassed look on her face. “Where is it?”

Regina chuckled and walked over. “You’re kind of an idiot, you know.”

“Hey!”

Once in her office, Emma sat down in front of the computer. “If most of the characters in the Enchanted Forest are known here as stories…” She mumbled as she tried to log in. “Could you log in?”

Regina reached over Emma and typed in her password. “You were saying?”

“I thought maybe the Morrígan is also known here.” Emma muttered as she opened up Google and typed the name into the search bar. “There.”

Regina was still leaning over Emma’s shoulder, and now proceeded to read the article Emma pulled up. “She’s an Irish goddess…of war?”

“Of battle, strife, and sovereignty.” Emma corrected her. “And one of the Tuatha de Danann?”

“I’ve heard of the tribe of Dana.” Regina said. “They ruled all the realms in times long past. I thought they were dead.”

“Quite clearly not.”

“And blood is her reign, too – look. It’s how she gains her power and controls people’s lives.”

“Regina.” Emma’s hand came to rest on top of Regina’s. “What did we do?”

“Well…we’re not dead so there’s that bonus. And she blessed us, not cursed.”

“Perhaps we should ask her.”

“I have a feeling we should hold up our end of the bargain first.”

“The fight?”

“We’ll figure it out.” Regina sighed. “But I now know where to look for more answers.”

“Regina-“ Emma called as she hurried after the woman. “What do you mean?”

“Crows.”

“What?”

“Crows. I’m sure I can find something about crows. And you – try finding anything about triskelions.”

“The thing on our hand?”

“Exactly.”

About half an hour later, Regina looked up from her books to find Emma passed out amidst a pile of books on the couch. She smiled gently and made a blanket appear over her before turning back to her reading.

She was finding absolutely nothing. Each and every book had nothing at all, no mention of the forbidden bond or blood bonds or even crows in that context. Frustrated and tired, she was about to get up and go to bed when she noticed the crow.

It was perched on top of the tallest pile of books, it’s red eyes gleaming at her with a knowing look in their eye.

“Can you help me?” Regina sighed, feeling ridiculous for speaking to a bird.

The crow cocked it’s head as though it were asking a question, and Regina replied appropriately:

“I need to know more.”

The bird cawed and disappeared, leaving a black book in it’s wake. It had no title, but it’s cover was decorated with rubies and pearls cast in silver. There was a lock on the side, but upon touching the book the metal slid away, and the book opened itself to a specific page without her even having to move.

_The last of the Tuathá de Danaan – The Morrígan_

_When the time of the Dana tribe came to it’s end, most of the gods and goddesses had found a way to continue existing in this world. Because they could not continue existing as they were, they transformed themselves, becoming entities and races of people, or worlds and realms far beyond the one they had once ruled. All but one had found their way to exist._

_She was the Morrígan, one of the three sisters of sovereignty, the goddess of blood and battle and strife. She was known as the Queen of Queens, ruling her own kingdom far away from a castle built of onyx and rubies. She is known to stride the lands in many forms, like most of her kin; her favourite is that of a woman, too beautiful for words, with skin black as the night sky and eyes as red as the rubies which she so loves. Her hair is sleek and black, often braided with pearls and rubies amidst the locks; her face is angled and regal, her teeth as white as pearls and her jaw as sharp as a knife. She was not a woman who enjoyed dresses and typical womanly attire; she almost always wore armour, forged of the finest white gold and decorated with pearls and rubies and onyx in the most masterful of skills._

_Her powers were great and manifold; she most enjoyed residing over battles and controlling them, for she alone had the power to create the most fearsome and brave of warriors ever known to man. Though she is often thought of as the goddess of war, she is also the goddess of bravery, for it is bravery that she granted upon those she favoured in battle._

_In her time, she had been revered for the blessing she granted to those deemed most worthy of heart and soul – the blood blessing, they called it. It was so that it could be sought for by any who so wished – all it required was the mixing of two bloods in two hands, and the commitment of two hearts for a true and strong relationship. Once this commitment was made, it was up to the goddess to decide her final price – often it was a promise of trueness of heart and a sacrifice in battle._

_If successful, this bond bound two souls into two shared entities with their power increased in manifold. For mortals without magic, this meant increased physical strength and intelligence, as well as emotional courage and fortune. For magical beings, this bond was that much more revered and that much more dangerous, for the binding of two magical bloods was said to bring them the greatest strength of all. It is said that a successful magical bond could make both magicians involved far more powerful than they could imagine – they would be able to pass through one another’s thoughts and feelings, sense one another without speaking, and even switch bodies at will. Ideally, anything one of the two knew was also known by the other – if the other so wished. It is said that the blessing could also make them immortal, granting them higher powers over mere mortals._

_However, this blessing had high chances of being turned into a curse. For mortals, any failure to be worthy resulted in the merging of the two completely, meaning both souls were lost for all eternity with no escape, not even death. For magicals, this fate was much crueller – they would be cursed, with no ability to control their actions, and with time be reduced to disfigured monsters with no clarity of mind left._

_It is this blessing which the Morrígan turned into upon the end of her time; she exists through those who commit to her name. In time, the blessing was attempted at and only failed, and became known as a curse. After thousands of years passed, the name of the Queen and her blessing were forgotten almost completely, only to be known as the forbidden bond which no one attempted._

Regina set the book down. Her heart was beating fast in her chest, and for a moment she felt as though she was going to faint. There was so much more in the book, but clearly this specific page and text was what the crow had wanted her to read.

She crept over to where Emma was snoring over the books, and sat down next to her to wake her up. The blonde stirred and woke up slowly, her eyes drowsy and a small dribble of drool noticeable on the corner of her mouth. Her hair was adorably disheveled and for the first time, Regina realized she was admiring the sight before her.

“Emma.”

“Regina?”

“I…I’ve got something.” She said, handing Emma the book. She watched quietly as Emma scanned over the text, and smiled when the woman looked up with shock and surprise in her eyes upon finishing it.

“So…that’s what we did.” She stammered. “You said it wasn’t a big deal.”

“Well I thought it wasn’t-“

“What the hell did we do?” Emma interrupted. “What if we fail?”

“We won’t.” Regina told her. “We can’t.”

“But what do we do?” Emma asked. “Do we tell people?”

“I don’t know.”

“Should we tell?”

“I don’t think so…not yet.”

Suddenly, both women felt incinerating pain in their hands as the scars began burning. Emma gasped, shaking her hand as though she had burned it on something, whilst Regina ripped the bandage off to find that the scar on her hand was glowing red.

“That’s not good.” She muttered. “We have to do something.”

“What? Did we fail already?”

“I think…” Regina paused, looking Emma in the eyes. At the same time, both were overcome with the gut feeling that they knew what to do, and without speaking, they clasped their hands together. Almost instantly, silvery light began spilling from their hands, but this time it did not form an orb. The light shone on them for awhile, and they groaned and winced in pain as it did. Then, a mere moment later, the light died away and they let go of each other, to find that the marks on their hands were now a pale, reddish color.

_When I get my fight, your bond will be sealed and final. Do not fear, my children – I do not believe you will fail. I can see that a fight is at hand – the dusk after next. Then your test will truly begin._

The Morrígan’s voice echoed in their minds, and hearing her made them both settle and relax. Almost instantly, drained by all that had happened that day and in the past weeks, the two of them fell onto the couch, onto each other, fast asleep.

What neither of them had failed to notice was that Henry had woken to the noises a little while earlier and come down to the stairs to spy on them. And what he had seen had struck fear into his young heart. He hadn’t understood what they had been talking about – of crows and triskelions and something that they did and keeping it a secret – but he knew it was nothing good. Seeing them clasp hands, the light, and then instantly fall onto each other fast asleep was the final nail in the coffin; he grabbed his coat and ran outside without so much as a look back.

Snow and Charming hadn’t been able to sleep either, and were thoroughly surprised to find Henry knocking at their door in the middle of the night. Seeing the fear in his eyes, they pulled him in immediately, worry striking both their hearts.

“What is it, Henry? Did something happen?”

He shook his head. “There’s something wrong with my moms.”

“What happened?”

He told them what he had seen, and by the end both Snow and Charming knew there was only one person they could ask.

“Gold.” David said. “We need to go to him, now.”

“Are you sure they’re alright?” Snow asked Henry, who nodded.

“They’re just asleep.” He said. “I checked.”

“Let’s go see Gold. He can explain this.” David insisted.

“Now?”

“Yes, now. There’s something wrong with my daughter and I’m not going to just ignore it.” He said and grabbed his jacket. “Let’s go.”

\--

When they arrived at Gold’s shop, they were only half surprised to find him wide awake.

“I was expecting you.” He said as he beckoned them to enter.

“You were?”

“There’s something up with our dear Savior and the Queen, is there not?”

“How did you-“

“I have to say I was surprised to find the Queen was willing to save Emma…weren’t you?”

Snow shook her head. “No. But you have to listen to what Henry has to say.”

Henry repeated his story to Gold, who listened intently with a mysterious look in his eye. “Crows, you say? And triskelions?”

“Pretty sure that’s what they said, yeah.” Henry nodded. “What do they mean?”

“I haven’t got the slightest clue.”

“What?” Snow and David asked at the same time. “What do you mean you don’t know? Aren’t you supposed to know everything?”

“Even my knowledge has it’s limits, dearie.” Mr. Gold clicked his tongue and shrugged. “I haven’t got a clue.” He walked around his shop, tapping his cane as he went along. He then turned abruptly, pointing his cane at Henry. “You said she spoke to a crow?”

“Y-yeah.”

“And it gave her a book?”

“Yeah.”

“Then let’s go see what’s in that book.”

In a flying moment, they found themselves in Regina’s living room. Snow and Charming were immediately taken up by the sight of their daughter, sleeping on the couch against Regina’s sleeping form. Her arm was slung over Regina’s stomach in the most natural of positions, and for a moment they felt as though they were intruding.

“Are they…okay?” Snow asked as she hurried over, placing a gentle hand on Emma’s cheek. Her eyes fell to look at Emma’s open palm, and she gasped quietly. “What’s that on her hand?”

All three came over to look, and all of them were mystified by the strange mark on Emma’s hand. A quick check revealed that there was an identical mark on Regina’s hand.

“Now, the book-“ Gold mused. “Which one is it?”

Henry pointed at the book that lay, closed, on the floor in front of the couch. “That one.”

But when he reached down to pick it up, he cried as the book’s cover burned his skin. The noise roused both Emma and Regina, both of whom sprung up with a confused look on their faces.

“What are you doing here?” They spoke in unison, an almost identical look on their faces. Emma continued to stare at her parents, while Regina’s eyes fell to look at Rumplestiltskin’s hand, which was red and singed.

“What are you doing?” She growled at him. He glared at her in return and reached for her hand, pulling it up to see the mark.

“I’d like to ask the same from you, dearie.”

Regina ripped her hand away from him and scowled. “Leave my house.”

“Oh, I am not going anywhere until you tell me what it is you’ve done.”

“Leave.” Regina sighed and with the wave of her hand, Gold was gone. She looked at the Charmings and then Emma, and raised her eyebrows as she realised she had no idea what was going on.

“What is going on?” She asked, looking from her son to the Charmings. “Why are you here?”

“How about you tell us.” David said. “What are you keeping from us?”

Emma and Regina looked at one another. Neither of them spoke, and yet they knew what the other wanted.

Emma sighed and looked at her father. “Look…I kept something from you when I told you how we got here. It wasn’t because I didn’t want you to know…I just didn’t want you to worry until we knew more.”

Regina nodded, but said nothing as Emma continued. “You remember how I told you that we made a deal with Sandman?”

There were nods all around, and so the blonde took a deep breath before speaking again. “Well…what I didn’t tell you was that the only way we survived the trip across the Dreamlands was because we created a bond of sorts.”

Snow gasped. “Not the-“

“The forbidden bond, yes.” Regina interrupted. “That’s what we kept from you.”

“So that’s how…you-“

“Yes.”

“But what does it mean?”

“So far, nothing.” Regina shrugged. “There was a goddess, who blessed us in a sense – we can call her the Queen of Queens. All it does is, well – we’re yet to figure it out.”

“And that’s what you were doing? Research?” Henry asked. “That’s what I saw?”

“You were spying on us?” Emma exclaimed, causing the boy to blush slightly.

“I heard noises.” He explained, but both his moms just smiled gently.

“You can’t tell Gold.” Regina suddenly said, looking intently at both Snow and David. “He’ll find out…in his own time, I’m sure.”

Emma looked at her parents apologetically. “I’m sorry we didn’t tell you, it’s just – we have no idea what’s happening. We didn’t want you to worry.”

Regina glanced at Emma quizzically. Despite the way the woman was speaking and looking, she knew for a fact that inside, Emma was frustrated and wanted the Charmings gone.

 _Why?_ Regina thought, more to herself than anyone else. When she saw Emma jump up in response and turn to look at her, she knew she had heard it too.

“Did you say something?”

Regina shook her head. “No.”

_In your head._

Emma stared at Regina, her mouth hanging open, but her attention was drawn away by Snow. “But are you all right, Emma?”

Emma nodded and smiled at her parents. “Yes, I am. You don’t need to worry.”

“Should we stay here? In case you want to talk, or something?”

 _Oh, god, please no._ Emma thought. Regina bit her cheek to stop herself from laughing when she heard that.

 _Well aren’t you just the perfect daughter._ She snickered in Emma's head, causing the blonde to shoot her an angry glare.

 _Shut up._ “I don’t know, I’m kind of tired…” Emma told her parents, faking a yawn.

“Then you’re probably coming with us?”

Regina felt Emma’s sudden panic as the woman searched for a viable reason for her to stay at Regina’s house instead. Knowing Emma wasn’t going to think of anything, she took over.

“I don’t think that’s wise. I should keep her under observation – just in case something changes.”

As Snow and David nodded in agreement and made their goodbyes, Emma caught Regina’s stare and smiled.

_Thank you._

_You’re welcome_.

“Henry…shouldn’t you be in bed?” Regina asked, raising an eyebrow at their son. “It’s almost dawn.”

Henry knew better than to argue, and so he said good night and hurried away to his bedroom. Regina then turned back to look at Emma. The blonde had been staring at Regina with a strange look on her face for quite some time, and she wanted to know why.

“You okay, Swan?”

Emma sighed and rolled her eyes. “Why do you always revert back to calling me Swan? Or Miss Swan? Call me Emma, for god’s sake.”

“Fine, _Emma_ , what’s wrong? Why are you staring at me?”

“We just communicated telepathically and you’re just…okay?” Emma asked, her voice rising slightly. Fearing Henry would be roused again by noises, Regina cast a silencing spell over the entirety of the upstairs, allowing them to hear everything but him to hear nothing.

“No, I’m not just…okay, not with that. It’s weird.”

“I know.”

“I can feel you in the strangest of ways…like your moods.” Regina continued. “Like I know that right now you’re tired and curious and very much in awe of what’s going on.”

“And I know you’re trying to suppress those same feelings.” Emma retorted. “But you can’t…read my thoughts, can you?”

Regina looked at her curiously. “Not sure. I don’t think so.”

_How about now?_

_That works, but I don’t know what you’re thinking._

“How about now?” Emma asked, taking Regina’s hand into hers. A flash ran through Regina’s mind – an image of a cup of cocoa with cinnamon sprinkled on top.

“Cocoa?” She asked. “You want cocoa?”

“You did read my mind!”

“Because you let me. Think of something again and try to stop me from seeing it.” Regina told Emma. Emma did as told, and when Regina touched Emma’s hand again, she saw nothing.

“Doesn’t work.”

“Good, we have boundaries.”

“Emma…” Regina paused slightly, weighing the pros and cons of saying what she wanted to say.

“Regina just say what it is, you clearly have something to say.” Emma told her.

“I just…wonder, sometimes.” Regina said.

“Wonder? About what?” Emma asked. The blonde’s words were followed by a wide yawn, which reminded Regina of the time.

“Nevermind.” She told Emma. “You need to sleep.”

“But I don’t want to.” Emma replied. “You know why I don’t want to.”

“Maybe there’s a way around it.”

“I don’t want to sleep.” Emma insisted.

“What if I bring a chair next to the bed and sleep there? So you won’t be alone?”

“How did you know that I was afraid of sleeping alone?” Emma asked, then remembered the reason. “Ah.”

“Well?” Regina asked.

“I can’t make you sleep in a chair.”

“If that gets you to sleep, I will.” Regina retorted. “If you don’t rest, you’ll most likely die, and then I’ll have sobbing Charmings and a heartbroken Henry to deal with.”

Emma got up, groaning, and followed Regina up the stairs and to the bedroom. She practically collapsed into the bed, and felt the covers being draped over herself as Regina proceeded to tuck her in. An armchair appeared next to Emma’s bedside, and Regina headed over to her closet to change into something more comfortable before going to sleep.

When she came back, however, the chair was gone.

“What did you do?” She asked Emma, who made a face.

“I…” She mumbled, suddenly too shy for words. “It’s your bed.”

“Well I can’t make you sleep elsewhere, now can I?” Regina retorted, making the chair appear again. “Just sleep.”

Emma watched quietly as Regina settled into the armchair. By taking away the chair Emma had hoped that she would get into bed with her. When this was challenged, Emma had been too afraid to even suggest it, for she feared rejection far too much. She watched Regina struggled for a bit, trying to find a comfortable position, and when she did, it was certainly odd – her legs were slung over the arm of the chair, her head cradled against the back of the chair while her arms hung off over the side. She closed her eyes and tried to go to sleep, but Emma noticed that she’d forgotten about one important thing.

Regina suddenly felt a warmth spread over her, and opened her eyes slightly to find a blanket draped over herself. Emma’s hand poked out from under the duvet, a small grin on her face telling Regina that Emma had conjured up the blanket to make sure she was warm.

She mouthed a thank you to the blonde, who closed her eyes and fell asleep moments later.


	8. It's Only Fair

A little over an hour later, Emma awoke from the nightmare with a start, the fear and terror engulfing her as she fought to keep herself from crying. Regina was sprawled on the chair only feet from her, and she reached over to grab Regina’s hand.

That gentle touch was all that was needed to rouse the woman, who instantly saw and felt Emma’s distress and moved to sit on the bed. Just as before, Emma crawled into Regina’s arms, and just as before, Regina tightened them around the blonde with a content feeling spreading throughout her being.

She remembered how good it had felt when Emma had done the same for her in the stables after she’d seen Daniel die once again. She remembered that, and knew both from memory and for a fact that that was exactly how Emma was feeling – despite all the awful feelings storming inside, the fact that Regina’s arms were around her made it all feel less real.

_You are alone. No one cares. You have no one._

It was most likely by accident that Regina heard those words ringing inside Emma’s head, over and over again. And she knew Emma didn’t even know she could hear it, an endless loop of self-destructive words that only worked to break her from within.

Despite knowing this would reveal at least some extent of her feelings, Regina leaned in and whispered into Emma’s ear.

“You are not alone.”

Emma heard those words and gasped in surprise. She pulled away slightly, her eyes brimming with tears and yet so wide from surprise. Her mouth was slightly open, and her lip quivered as she tried to form a coherent thought. Her gaze rose to meet Regina’s – and in that lingering moment, all was clear.

The next thing she knew, her hands were pulling Regina’s face closer as she engulfed the woman’s lips with hers in a desperately passionate kiss. Emma knew she needed this, wanted this – and because of her newly granted superpower, she knew Regina wished for it just as much.

For Regina, it was as though her mind had just melted away. The extent to which kissing Emma felt right and natural was far beyond her ability to process – the way her lips felt against her own felt perfect and new and yet so familiar was simply magical. This was what she had wanted for years, she realized with a start, despite not fully knowing herself until mere months ago. The desperation Emma expressed and poured into the kiss was a shared feeling – Regina, too, felt desperate, for she had held these feelings in for far too long.

When they parted, they were too breathless for words. The kiss itself wasn’t the reason they were so stunned – though it was an amazing kiss. No, it was the ultimate realisation that the other fostered the same feelings for them as they did. That realization was the reason they both felt as though the world had fallen off it’s axis, as though all of time and space had just stopped and left only them existing in their own little bubble.

Emma was the first to speak.

“Is this…okay?” She asked quietly. Their faces were only inches apart, and Regina could see the sudden lack of confidence that passed over Emma’s eyes. “I mean…do you-“

Regina grinned and closed the distance, giving Emma a long, gentle kiss. “Hush.”

“But-“ Emma stopped her before she could kiss her again. “You have feelings me?”

"Maybe."

"No, seriously - do you?"

“What does this look like?” Regina murmured as she pressed yet another kiss onto Emma’s soft lips.

“I want you to say it.”

“Why?” Regina asked. “So you can tell if I’m lying?”

Emma cursed to herself as she realised she’d forgotten Regina knew about her superpower. She smirked at the woman and raised her eyebrows as though to challenge her. “Maybe.”

“Fine. I have feelings for you.”

Emma grinned in satisfaction. “Ha. Got you to admit it first.”

“What are you, a child?”

“Maybe.”

“What about you, _Miss Swan_?” Regina asked, purposefully calling Emma by her last name. She couldn’t help but smile when she saw Emma’s brows furrow in annoyance.

“You said that just to annoy me, didn’t you?”

“Maybe.” Regina said, imitating Emma. “But feel free to answer, any time.”

“Would I be doing this if I didn’t have feelings for you?” Emma asked as she leaned in to kiss Regina.

Regina, in turn, rolled her eyes and responded to the kiss, sliding her hand to gently cup Emma’s face. “Fair enough.” She mumbled against Emma’s lips. The kiss was interrupted by a wide yawn from Emma, who suddenly realised just how tired she was. In the past few days, she had only slept maybe four hours in total, leaving her in a constant dazed state. The clock on Regina’s nightstand lit up as she reached over to see the time: 03:17.

Regina realised that Emma was about to go back to sleep and moved to get back into her chair. Emma, however, stopped her by grabbing her arm and looked her in her eyes.

“Don’t go.”

Regina tilted her head slightly and made a quizzical face. “Really?”

“It is _your_ bed.” Emma told her, moving over to the other side of the bed. “It’s only fair.”

And so it ended up that Emma and Regina shared a bed together for the night. Though at first they both slept on their own sides, not touching, Regina woke up briefly to find Emma had snuck her way to lay half on top of her. The blonde’s head rested on her shoulder, and her leg was partially on top of Regina. Still half asleep, she felt a warmth spread through her chest as she slid her arm around Emma’s waist, bringing the blonde even closer as she fell back to sleep.

* * *

Henry woke up around seven the next morning. Without even properly thinking, he headed over to his mother’s bedroom as he always did, to wake her up for breakfast. But when he stepped into the room, he was surprised by the sight of  _both_ his mothers in the same bed, cradling one another.

It wasn’t so much the fact that he was seeing Emma and Regina together – no, he had suspected that the two of them had chemistry for quite some time. It was the level of intimacy. Though his mother did not know, Henry had witnessed her and some of her men in bed together during some mornings. He had never witnessed anything inappropriate – they had always just been asleep - but of all the men Henry had seen his mother in bed with, he had never seen her even touching them. Typically, he had known his mother to prefer keeping them as far away from her as possible. And so, seeing the two of them cuddling, Regina’s hold of Emma so gentle, made Henry turn on his heels and close the door ever so carefully to allow them to have a little more time together.

He walked downstairs with a little, mischievous smile on his face. He was happy that they were something – though it was something he had never expected, any resolve to the constant conflict over himself granted him a certain sense of comfort.

There was a knock on the door, and for a moment he feared that the noise had roused his mothers upstairs. He hurried over to answer, finding his grandparents on the other side with a considerable amount of groceries in their hands.

“Morning, Henry.” Snow said as she barged in. “Are your moms awake?”

Henry paused for a moment, ultimately deciding it was best to keep the pair upstairs a secret for the time being. For all he knew, there was some explanation other than a relationship behind their shared bed. “They’re still sleeping.” He stammered.

“Should we go wake them?” David asked, taking a step towards the stairs. Henry stepped in front of him and shook his head. “I don’t think so. They were really really tired.”

Snow and David looked at Henry for a long moment, then shrugged. “Can you show us to the kitchen?” Snow asked. “We figured there wasn’t any food in the house, seeing as they were…well, gone for two weeks.”

Henry led them to the kitchen, letting out a quiet sigh of relief that he’d managed to keep the two of them from barging into Regina’s bedroom and making all sorts of conclusions.

Snow, being the domestic goddess she is, whipped up pancakes for breakfast. It was the scent of freshly baked pancakes, maple syrup and fresh coffee that made it’s way into Regina’s bedroom and ultimately woke up one half of the pair. Waking up to find Regina still fast asleep beneath her made Emma feel all sorts of giddiness and joy that she couldn’t even fathom. She would’ve given anything to just stay there, away from everything, close to this woman who made her feel so warm inside.

That was the only way she could explain it – at least for now. She felt warm, not just on the outside but also inside her chest and in every cell of her being. She felt like she did after a long, hot bath – relaxed and drowsy and so incredibly happy.

She then began wondering about the delicious scent that was floating from downstairs. Hearing laughter and her parent’s voices dragged her out of her little bubble, and with a groan she rolled off of Regina and out of bed.

It had been so nice and cozy under the duvet – now, standing in Regina’s bedroom in only leggings and a t-shirt, Emma realized she felt cold despite it being a sunny summer’s day. The clock on the wall told her it was just little past eight in the morning, but the sun outside was as bright and warm as ever.

_It’s probably the fever_ , she thought to herself as she stumbled over to a pile of clothes and pulled out the black sweater that she’d brought back from the Enchanted Forest. She pulled it on and instantly felt warm and cozy. 

She made her way downstairs carefully, one step at a time, still feeling woozy and oddly drained. She knew Regina would be furious to find her out of bed and walking about, but she wasn’t the boss of her. Emma could do whatever she wished, despite knowing in the back of her mind that staying in bed would have been the best choice.

When she reached the kitchen, she was considerably tired. But seeing her family at the kitchen table, eating breakfast, caused that exhaustion to disappear altogether.

“Emma!” Snow cried, running up to her and hugging her tight. Emma groaned slightly as the wounds on her back reminded themselves of their existence, and Snow instantly pulled away with a concerned look on her face. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, _Mom_.” Emma told her. “Really.”

“Come, sit. We made pancakes.”

“And a whole lot of other things, too, I see.” Emma said as she sat down and saw the platters of food. There was bacon and eggs, and toast, as well as cut up fruits and muffins and of course, pancakes. “Cereal would’ve been fine, you know.”

“This is a celebration.” David said. “We got our daughter back.”

Emma suddenly felt awkward and blushed slightly. “That’s…sweet of you.” She piled her plate full of food and dug in, endlessly happy to be able to stuff her face with food. “This is delicious.” She mumbled with her mouth full of pancakes.

“We’re just so glad you’re here.” Snow said, tears brimming in her eyes. “I mean-“ She began, but her voice broke and she hid her face in her hands as she began crying. David hugged her gently to soothe her, and Emma watched with mixed feelings of discomfort and sympathy.

“Hey…it’s okay,” She said. “I’m not dead. I’m fine.”

David smiled at his daughter and reached over to take her hand. “We know that, and we’re so very glad that you’re here with us. But you have to understand – we buried someone or something who we thought was you. We held a funeral for both you and Regina. For us, you were dead for two weeks. That’s not so easy to come back from.”

“I get that…it’s just, I wish you didn’t have to. I wish it didn’t happen in the first place.” Emma replied, trying her best to be reassuring. _That’s not true though,_ a voice in her head said _, something good did come of it._ For a brief moment she thought that the voice was Regina, but she then realised that it was just her own mind telling her what she felt.

Meanwhile upstairs, Regina woke up to find herself alone in her bed. A momentary pain passed through her as she realised Emma was gone, but that pain quickly receded in the face of another emotion – worry. She was worried about where the feverish, severely ill and partially crippled blonde could have gotten herself into. Hearing the voices echoing from downstairs, she realised that she was probably downstairs getting breakfast – the hunger which was aroused in Regina's stomach by the scent of pancakes told her that she, too, should be doing the same.

She wrapped a silk kimono around herself as she descended the stairs and tiptoed her way to the kitchen. At the doorway, she paused for a long moment, watching the Charmings chatter away happily like the family they were. She couldn’t see how she could fit in, and was about to head back upstairs when she heard Emma’s voice.

“Regina!”

She turned around to look at the blonde, who pulled out a chair beside her with an expectant look on her face. “Come sit with us.”

Regina smiled carefully and walked over to sit next to Emma. “Good morning.” She looked at all the people around her, all of whom had fallen silent the instant she had come in, and felt so much like she was intruding.

_You’re not intruding._ Emma’s voice rang in Regina’s head. She felt the blonde’s hand reach over underneath the table and gently grab her hand reassuringly for just a few seconds, and just that tiny gesture was enough for her to relax and give it a proper try.

“Did you make all of this?” She asked Snow, trying her best to speak kindly.

Snow nodded. “Yes, I figured you didn’t have much food – or that all what you had had gone bad.”

“That was very kind of you.”

“I cleaned out your fridge, too.” Snow told her. “Or, well – I made David do it. It was disgusting, you should’ve seen it.”

Henry nodded enthusiastically. “It was awesome, mom – there was mould all over the walls, and one of the rotten apples actually exploded-“

The breakfast passed along nicely, with little to no awkward silences. When they were done, Emma insisted on going to see her and Regina’s graves, despite Regina’s complaints that she should be on bed rest. When Emma pointed out that Regina’s car was most likely still at the cemetery, she agreed to go with only half the fuss that would've followed otherwise. Emma’s yellow bug was still in the driveway of Regina's house – according to David, they hadn’t had the heart to even think about what they should do to it in the past weeks.

Emma wanted to drive, but that was where all three adults drew the line. No one thought letting a feverish and medically intoxicated Emma should be going anywhere near the driver's seat, so instead, David drove, with Snow in the front seat and Emma, Regina and Henry packed in to the back.

Seeing her own grave was easily at the top of the list of Emma’s strangest life experiences. The headstone was carved out of white marble, and her name was written in fine golden cursive along with her birthdate and death-date. There was a text too, right below her name, which read: “ _We will always find you_.”

She couldn’t help but feel sad and touched upon seeing it, and as though they’d read her mind, she felt Snow’s and David’s arms around her as they hugged her. There was a large pile of flowers and candles on her grave, all from various townspeople and friends of hers.

She stood there, with her parents and Henry, for a long while until she came to realise that Regina was not there with them. She looked over to where her mausoleum stood, and saw that the door was partially open.

“I’ll go see if Regina’s alright.” She muttered as she untangled herself from her parents.

She found Regina inside the mausoleum, standing before the marble coffin with tears in her eyes. There was a small golden plate on top of the coffin. As Emma walked past Regina to look at it, she noticed there was a small carving below Regina’s name as well.

_A wonderful mother who, against all odds, turned her back on darkness in the end._

She turned back to look at Regina and smiled gently. “Hey…you okay?”

Regina shook her head. Her hand was covering her mouth, and she was desperately trying not to cry. Emma went to stand beside her and reached her arm around Regina’s shoulders. “Wanna blow it up?”

Regina stared at Emma with an incredulous look in her eyes. “What?”

“Well you’re not really dead, so you can destroy it if you want.”

Realising this, Regina turned to look at the marble coffin with newfound joy on her face. She raised her hand, about to incinerate the whole thing, but stopped. Emma watched quietly as Regina stepped forward and took the gold plate off the coffin and placed it in her pocket.

“You do it.” Regina told her. “You need the practice.”

“What do you want me to do?” Emma asked. “Blow it up?”

“No don’t do that. We’ll get hit.” Regina said hurriedly. “Make it crumble to pieces first.”

Emma turned to look at the coffin and raised her hand slightly. She imagined the coffin crumbling, and felt a slight tug at her gut as she saw the marble breaking and falling into pieces.

“Now rebuild it.”

“What?”

“Make it look like a coffin again, but add a touch of yourself. Change the colour or design, if you like.”

Emma made a face at Regina, who laughed in response. “You need the practice, trust me. Go on.”

Imitating the wrist-flick that Regina always did, Emma made the rocks levitate in the air with ease. But, having too much confidence in her ability to control them, she applied too much force, sending the pieces flying all over the tiny room.

“Emma!” Regina cried as she ducked out of the way.

Emma laughed and made the rocks stop, mid-air. “I got this.” She moved her hands as though she were moulding clay, and the rocks turned into one big blob. She shaped it into a coffin again, making a lid and the base with care. In comparison to what it had looked like before, it was slimmer and more detailed, with little flowers adorning one side. The colour she changed too, making the marble pure white before finally letting her hands fall down.

“There.” She muttered, feeling slightly faint.

“It’s beautiful.” Regina told her. “And now you’re going to go home and sleep.”

“You mean home home or-“

“You’re going to get in a car with the Charmings and go home.” Regina said. “I’ll pop by later with your medicine.”

“How are you going to get home?”

“My car is still here.” Regina said, pulling out her car keys from her pocket. “I’ll see you later.”

“Why are you doing this?” Emma asked, suddenly feeling helpless. “Can’t I-“

“What do you think your dear parents will think when you insist on going back to my home instead of yours?” Regina asked her. “”They’ll think it’s weird, and rightly so.”

Emma frowned. “You’re right.” _But I don’t think I like it_.

“I’ll see you later.”

“Yeah.” Emma said as she began walking out of the mausoleum. “I’ll see you.”

Regina stood there, staring at the closed door, and smiled gently to herself.

_I don't think I like it either._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm so sorry it took so long to get some proper action happening but i wanted to keep it realistic and this was the earliest it felt right


	9. She Makes Me Sick

Once Emma was tucked in and taken care of, Snow and David made themselves a cup of tea and sat down together in their kitchen. They were overwhelmed – first their daughter died and they had to deal with that whole mess on top of fearing the unknown enemy more than ever, and then appeared two weeks later with unimaginable injuries to beat and scare the enemy’s minion away together with her now former enemy, with whom she had formed the most forbidden and dangerous bond known in all the realms. They had all the right to be overwhelmed.

“Do you think she’s fine?” Snow asked. Her fingers were tapping on the rim of her cup, which was a nervous habit of hers. “I mean…she keeps saying she’s fine, and I think she might be, but can she be fine?”

David glanced over to where Henry was playing a video game to make sure he wasn’t listening. “I’m honestly not sure. There’s something…different.”

“I’m not sure what to think about her newfound friendship with Regina.” Snow confessed to him. “I mean…I don’t think she’s evil, but there’s her past and what she is now and I’m just worried.”

“That’s one thing that’s different for sure. But she’s also…stronger.”

“What do you mean?”

“She just has this aura of strength.” David said. “I’m not sure how to explain it, but it’s just a habit I’ve formed through my years of fighting. When she walked into the kitchen today…I was a little afraid of her. Her walk has more strength than anyone I’ve ever seen, even when she’s sick.”

“I didn’t notice that.” Snow confessed. “But didn’t you notice how happy she seemed this morning?”

“I did.”

“It’s great to see her so happy.”

“It is.”

“But why?”

“Maybe she missed us?”

“That must be it…after all, she was gone from us for two weeks. I miss her now and she’s only a few feet away.”

David looked at his wife with overbearing love in his eyes. “I miss her too.”

Snow laughed gently and placed her hand on top of his. “I’m just so glad.”

They noticed Henry had stopped playing and looked over to see him looking at them, obviously listening.

“Henry…” Snow began to scold him, but David stopped her.

“I think it’s only reasonable for him to want to listen.”

Henry got up and walked over, taking a seat next to Snow. “I just think it’s so weird.”

“What is?”

“The jester.” Henry said, looking astonished that neither of them guessed it. “Two days ago, he was threatening to kill us all. We haven’t heard from him or his king since my moms showed up. Aren’t either of you worried about what they might be up to?”

Snow and David exchanged a look. It was true that neither of them had even remembered the mysterious, nameless king and his threats – so much had been happening that it was only reasonable. In that moment of realisation, the fear that was all too present in their lives crept back into their hearts.

“What I don’t understand is that Regina let him go.” David muttered, his knee bouncing up and down as anxiety enveloped his mind. “I mean…she had him, right there – she could’ve used him to find the king and gotten rid of him and we wouldn’t have to worry.”

“David…maybe she didn’t destroy him because she didn’t want to. She is trying to be better, after all.”

"I just think it's reckless."

“And who is the king, anyway? It can’t be King John?” Snow asked.

“It would make sense, although I’ve never heard of a king named John. Some princes, yes, but not a king.” David mused.

“Emma did say that the Sheriff claimed to be King John’s lieutenant. Perhaps the king wants to take over Storybrooke?”

“But why would he want that when he has all the realms of the Enchanted Forest?”

“That’s true.”

Henry, who had up until now been quietly watching and listening, shifted slightly in his chair before speaking. “I think they have a plan.”

“What makes you think that?”

“I just…know. My mom – Regina – she did a lot of research. And she wouldn’t have let the jester go if she didn’t have a plan.”

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Henry rushed over to open it, and in stepped Regina with a small bag in her hand.

“Speak of the devil.” Snow muttered to David as they got up and walked over.

“What are you doing here?” David asked Regina.

“I brought Emma’s medicine. I thought she told you I’d come by later.”

“I guess it slipped her mind.” Snow shrugged. “Here, I can take them.”

Regina looked at Snow and smirked. “All due respect, dear, but it takes magic to apply the ointment. Here,” she said, pulling out a blue bottle, “This is for her pains. She can take however much she feels necessary. And this red one is sleeping potion – in case she can’t sleep.” She handed the two potions to Snow, who immediately took them to the kitchen table.

“Where is she?” Regina then asked, trying to force some kindness into her voice.

“You’re going to apply the medicine now?”

“Well, yes, that was my intention. I’m sure you don’t want me popping over all the time, now do you?”

“Her bedroom’s right up there.” Snow told her, pointing at the stairs. “We’ll be down here if you need anything.”

Regina walked into Emma’s bedroom expecting her to be asleep. Instead, she found the blonde sitting up in her bed, wide awake.

“Hey.” She said and shuffled over to allow Regina some space to sit down. “Didn’t think you were going to show.”

“What made you think that?”

“It’s been forever.”

“It’s been six hours.” Regina told her, rolling her eyes. “Didn’t think you liked me enough to miss me.”

Emma raised her eyebrows. Her head was spinning from being sick and weak and the medications, and all she really wanted at that moment was to be alone with Regina. “Really?” She leaned in, only inches from Regina’s face, and looked her in the eyes. “You sure?”

Regina looked at her with surprise written all over her face. Emma chuckled upon seeing that and closed the distance, pressing a soft kiss on Regina’s blood red lips. When she pulled away, Regina saw that some of her lipstick had stuck to Emma’s lips, colouring them an appealing pale red. She lifted her hand to Emma’s cheek, taking the time to just admire the woman until she realised that the cheek beneath her hand was far too warm to be healthy.

“You’re burning up.” She muttered, reaching into her bag and pulling out a potion. “Here.”

Emma frowned. “That’s the disgusting tasting one.”

“Are you saying you won’t take it?”

The blonde sighed and took the bottle from Regina, downing it in one fast go. She grimaced at the foul taste, but quickly pulled Regina in for a kiss, giving her an idea of just how bad the potion tasted. The woman pulled away, a grimace on her face, and scowled at Emma.

“You’re right, it is disgusting.” She said. “I feel like I’m going to vomit.”

“And you only had a small taste.” Emma reminded her.

“Oh well I’m sorry,” Regina said sarcastically, “I’m so sorry for worrying about your health and trying to make you healthy again.”

Emma laughed at Regina. “That’s so sweet of you.”

In response, Regina frowned slightly and looked Emma in the eyes. “I need you to do something for me.”

“What?” Emma asked innocently.

“Take off your shirt.”

“Why?”

Regina raised the jar of ointment and smirked. “You know why.”

When she was done applying the ointment onto Emma’s back, Regina took a moment to look at the wounds. They were all but closed up now, and the scars were healing at a very fast pace. Applying the ointment no longer caused Emma severe pains, only slight warmth and itchiness for mere moments. In all essence, it was no longer her back that was the worry – it was the fever which just didn’t seem to break.

She told Emma as much, but the blonde just smiled like a drugged fool and kissed her cheek. “Thank you, Rregina.” She hiccupped, and Regina felt like she was going to die from the cuteness.

“How about your nightmares?” She then asked. “Are they still-“

“No.” Emma lied. “I’m fine.”

Regina raised an eyebrow, suspecting the blonde was lying, but decided it was best to let her do as she wished. She could already see Emma getting drowsier and drowsier from the sleeping potion, and with that she got up and left without so much as a good bye.

Leaving the Charmings shouldn’t have been that hard. After briefly talking with Henry and giving Mary Margaret instructions on Emma’s care, she got up and walked out of the door. When it closed behind her, she felt a wrenching twist in her gut, and she had to lean against the railing to gather herself. When the feeling passed, she made her way out of the building and into her car.

A little ways down the road, she realised that the feeling hadn’t so much passed but rather just become this constant, slightly nauseous feeling in her stomach. Fearing she’d caught a cold from Emma, she sped her way home and decided to go to bed despite it being only the early hours of the evening.

But when she laid into her bed, she was engulfed in the overwhelming scent of Emma. She couldn’t quite place it – the woman didn’t wear perfume – but she still smelled nice at all times. It was a mixture of the outdoors and something sweet, like cinnamon. The fact that her bed smelled so much like Emma did not bother Regina at all; if anything, it made her happier. She turned to her stomach, expecting to fall asleep quickly as she always did.

When an hour had passed and she was still awake, Regina started to think something was wrong. She felt empty – her bed felt empty, her house, everything – not because Henry wasn’t there, but because the bumbling blonde idiot was missing.

Her phone buzzed somewhere on the floor next to the bed, and she rolled over to try and reach it, almost falling out of the bed in the process. When she saw that she’d just received a text from Emma, whose name was saved into her phone as ‘Swan’, she quickly sat up.

_I lied._

Regina paused for a second to wonder what she meant before sending a reply. **What about?**

_The nightmare came again._

**I knew it.**

_I’m sorry I lied._

**It’s okay. Why are you texting me, though? Can’t you ask the Charmings for comfort?**

_I told them I’m fine. I don’t want them to worry._

**So you’re lying to them.**

_Not lying._

_Just omitting information._

**Still lying.**

_Says you._

**When I lie I at least have the guts to admit it.**

_Hrmph._

**Also you got me sick.**

_What do you mean?_

**I feel nauseous and tired. Your fault entirely, I bet.**

_I feel like that too._

**So you admit you got me sick.**

_I didn’t ask for you to come and take care of me._

**And I didn’t ask for you to kiss me with your infected lips.**

_Infected?_ _You didn’t seem to complain._

**It was a joke, Swan.**

_It’s Emma._

**We’ll see, Miss Swan.**

_Emma._

**How’s Henry?**

_He’s fine. We played video games for a bit. I think he misses you._

**Maybe I could take him out for a movie or something some day?**

_Aren’t you forgetting something?_

**What?**

_Who sent us away in the first place? The jester? The upcoming battle?_

**I forgot.**

_Well it’s good you’re honest._

**Shouldn’t you really be trying to sleep?**

_I don’t want to._

**I was trying.**

_Well clearly you’re doing a horrible job at it._

**You’re distracting me.**

There was a long moment of silence, and for a moment Regina feared that she’d offended Emma. She set her phone down on her chest and sighed.

The phone vibrated and she picked it up to see what Emma had said.

 _I like this_.

**What?**

_Talking to you._

**Why?**

_Now that I think of it, I have no idea. You’re horrible at conversations._

**Well excuse me.**

**I guess you’re ok to talk to.**

_Ok?_

**Yes.**

_I want to sleep._

**Then sleep.**

_But I’m afraid._

**How can you admit that so easily to me but not to your parents?**

_You’ve seen me pretty much at my worst. We’ve been through too much for me to not trust you._

**Fair enough. But you can sleep. If the nightmare comes again, just text me.**


	10. A Hamster Fighting Trolls

Emma slept for a full 24 hours before she was carefully woken up by Snow. The woman had brought her a tray with a bear claw, a cup of cocoa and her potions, and was just sitting quietly at her bedside when Emma woke up.

“Morning!” She said excitedly. Emma groaned, wanting to go back to sleep, but found it was impossible as Snow shoved the tray into her lap and leaned over to open the curtains. Blinding light spilled in, and Emma squeezed her eyes shut to prevent pain.

“Sn- mom.” She muttered, grumpy as ever. “How long was I asleep?”

“A little over a day.”

“A day?” Emma yawned. “No wonder I need to pee.” She moved the tray away and hurried to the bathroom, leaving Snow confused in her wake. She was confused because her daughter was acting so normal, despite everything that had happened. She was confused because everything seemed perfect.

When Emma came back and dug into her breakfast, Snow watched her quietly with a smile on her face. Halfway through her bear claw Emma realised as much and looked up, her mouth full, and uttered something which could have been interpreted as ‘what are you looking at?’

“I just…everything seems so perfect, you know?” Snow sighed happily. “You’re here, and it's a beautiful summer, and just...it's perfect.”

Emma rolled her eyes. “Your definition of perfect has very low standards.”

“I just…missed you so much.” Snow said. “And it was hard, what with Henry and Neal and just…not knowing what was going to happen.”

“What do you mean?”

“That’s why I’m here, actually.” Snow told her. “Do you have any plan for this jester and his king?”

Emma paused and stared at her, slowly putting down her bear claw. “No…not really.”

"Have you even thought about it?"

"I forgot."

“He managed to send you away, Emma. God knows what else he has planned, but it can’t be good.”

“Well…perhaps Regina has thought of something. After all, I’ve been pretty useless lately.”

“Perhaps…but you can’t blame me for worrying, can you?”

“You’re a mother – of course you worry.”

 

* * *

 

Emma spent rest of the day playing video games with Henry and resting. She hadn’t heard from Regina since the texts, but was determined that she didn’t need to know what the woman was doing every waking hour of the day. For all she knew, Regina was already glad to have some time to herself and just relax without her annoying company.

Little did she know that at that very moment, Regina was locked in her bathroom, desperately trying to fight off a small army of trolls. She was sick, too, and in her feverish state her magic was too weak to ward off the 600-pound hunks of smelly, slobbering troll that were trying to break down her bathroom door.

She had been having a wonderfully relaxing day, just laying around in her bed with a good book and an endless supply of tea. There hadn’t been a care in the world – until the front door of her house was broken down and the trolls came storming in. She hadn’t been fast enough to get her phone before one of them stomped on it, effectively crushing her only way of calling for help.

She had tried to run away, only to find that her house was surrounded. The stake-off had taken almost an hour when she noticed herself growing more and more tired of running around her house. Her last resort was to grab a sword from above the fireplace and running into the bathroom, locking herself in and using magic to strengthen the door.

_Emma_ , she thought desperately. _Emma._ She knew the blonde was most likely far too far away to hear her – she didn’t even know what the range of telepathic messages was, but she was certain it couldn’t be very far. That didn’t stop her from trying.

_Emma_.

The door shook, and splinters fell on top of Regina as it began breaking down. She concentrated and pushed it back with magic, growing even weaker.

_Emma_.

The trolls were so close she could practically feel their breath on her neck.

**_Emma._ **

Back at the Charming’s loft, Emma’s head propped up when she heard her name being called.

“Did someone say my name?” She asked. Her parents and Henry all shook their heads, and Emma turned back to her magazine.

_Emma!_

Emma quickly realised that the voice was in her head, and immediately tried to reply.

_Regina?_

_Emma!_

_What is it?_

**_Trolls!_ **

“Dad!” Emma cried as she shot up from the couch. “Regina’s in trouble. Let’s go.”

David looked at her incredulously. “What do you mean?”

“I’ll explain later, grab your sword and let’s go. Now!” Emma yelled as she practically ran out of the loft. David had no other choice than to follow Emma, leaving Mary Margaret staring in his wake.

Emma had already started her car when David came down, carrying not one but two swords. “You forgot yours,” He said as he jumped into the car and Emma drove off. “Care to tell me why you think Regina’s in trouble?”

“She told me.”

“How?”

“Telepathy.” Emma blurted. “There are trolls in her house.”

“Trolls?”

“Yes.”

"Wait. Telepathy?"

"I'll explain everything later."

Arriving at Regina’s house moments later, David saw that this was indeed true – there were two ogres dawdling in the yard with huge, wooden clubs in their hands. Emma parked her car as fast as she could and ran out, not knowing exactly what she was doing. Her weakness and exhaustion were gone – all that mattered to her was that Regina was in trouble and needed saving.

She ran so fast that the two trolls didn’t even have time to react before she had already made it past them and into the house. David remained outside to deal with them, leaving Emma alone to face the ones inside.

Emma didn’t have to think to know where Regina was. The crowd of trolls trying to beat down the upstairs bathroom door were enough of a clue, and she ran up to them with her sword raised up high.

“Hey!” She yelled, stabbing the nearest troll in the back. “Over here!” She turned back around and ran away, leading the pack of trolls away from Regina and outside into the garden. There she was met with David and two dead trolls.

“Nice.” She breathed, jumping around to face the approaching trolls. _Are you okay?_ She called out to Regina as David proceeded to fight the trolls.

_I think they’re gone._

_Stay there, we’ll be there in a second._

Emma stood before three trolls and realised her sword was as useful as a tooth pick. They all had clubs at least twice her sword's length, and all were a head taller than she was. Without the amazing sword-fighting skills David had, she had about as much of a chance of actually slaying a troll as a hamster. She felt like one, too - a tiny little creature afraid of the big monsters before her, and all she really wanted to do was to run away and hide.

Instead she dropped the sword and did what she did best. She imagined what the trolls would have done to Regina, and immediately a surge of anger boiled up inside her. She channeled that anger out of her hands into a blast of fiery energy which sent the trolls flying away from her. She balled her fists and stomped her foot, and a chasm opened up in the ground, swallowing up the trolls. When she unfurled her fists, the chasm closed, and there was no trace of the trolls anywhere on Regina's pristine lawn.

And then everything was silent. Behind her, Emma heard the sword scrape on the ground as David lowered it. She turned around, an apologetic look in her eyes, and said:

“I’m going to go see if Regina’s okay.” Though she didn’t say it, both she and David knew that meant that he wasn’t to follow her.

“You’re okay?” He asked her as she passed him.

“Yeah.” Emma smiled. “I’m perfectly fine. Thank you. I’ll see you at home.”

She practically ran up the stairs and to the bathroom door. Once there, the door opened immediately, revealing a very weak and tired Regina behind it.

“What did you do?” Emma asked accusingly. Regina rolled onto her back and stared at Emma from the floor, a dazed look on her face. From where she was laying, Emma looked like an angel, except without wings and a pissed off frown on her pretty face.

“What makes you think I did anything?”

“Trolls don’t just appear out of nowhere.”

“Well, these ones did.” Regina muttered as she struggled her way to a sitting position. She groaned, and Emma flew to her side.

“Are you okay? Are you hurt?”

“I’m…fine.” Regina mumbled. “Just a little sore, is all.”

Emma looked at her and noticed her hand was on her stomach. “Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“Is your stomach okay?”

“Yes.”

“You’re lying.” Emma grumbled as she kneeled beside Regina and promptly lifted her shirt to reveal her stomach. There she saw a large, angry bruise that was fast growing on Regina’s abdomen. “You are hurt.”

“I’m-“ Regina began, but was overcome by a coughing fit. “-fine.”

“You scared me half to death.” Emma blurted out, a frown affixed to her face. “I thought you were dying.”

“Well, if you hadn’t come, I would have been dead.” Regina told her. “So…thank you.”

Emma rolled her eyes and pulled her into a hug, feeling Regina’s face nestle into the crook of her neck. “Don’t scare me like that.”

“I can’t promise that.” Regina murmured. She could barely stand from being so exhausted and sleepy and weak, and so she leaned heavily against Emma. Of course, that was the reason she gave herself for wanting to be held by the blonde; it couldn’t possibly have anything to do with the fact that she was growing to care for her in ways she hadn’t even thought possible. But amidst all the happiness and warm feelings, there was a tiny glimmer of fear as well. And it was that fear which prevented her from fully giving herself, from fully trusting that this could work.

Emma didn’t notice any of Regina’s hesitation – all she noticed was the fact that Regina was practically falling asleep in her arms. “Hey…let’s get you to bed.”

Regina nodded and mumbled something inaudible, and so they stumbled the short distance to her bedroom. This time it was Emma who tucked Regina in and sat on her bedside, watching her with a gentle smile on her face.

“I’m sorry I got you sick.” Emma said.

Regina shook her head slightly. “It’s nothing.”

“I shouldn’t have kissed you.”

There was a long moment of silence. All Regina wanted to say was that she didn’t care that she was sick, that the kiss had been worth it – but for some reason, she couldn’t bring herself to say the words. She watched quietly as Emma fidgeted with her hands and turned her face away, clearly uncomfortable with the whole situation. 

“It’s fine.” Regina finally mumbled. “You should be in bed.”

Admittedly, Emma was feeling slightly tired. She still had a fever, which she had forgotten about until now, but it was still there.

“Right. I’ll go.”

“Don’t you want to stay?”

Emma paused and looked at the woman in confusion. “I thought-“

“What did you think?”

“I thought you didn’t want this.”

“Why?”

“You…you told me to go away in the cemetery. And…I don’t know, I just get this feeling that you don’t want me so near.”

“I don’t know what I want yet.” Regina confessed. “And I don’t think you do, either.”

“So what do we-“ Emma began, letting the words die away.

“Let’s not rush. You told me to talk to Robin. I think I’m going to do that.” Regina told her. “And maybe you want to try the same with your dear captain.”

Emma felt like she couldn’t breathe. She knew Regina was right – neither of them really knew what they wanted, and she did have a budding something with Hook that she had to deal with before anything else could happen. And Regina – well, Regina was still most likely in love with Robin Hood, her ‘soulmate’, and so it was only reasonable that they figure themselves out before doing anything stupid.

“I’ll go.” She said. “You’re right. We need to…figure things out.” And with that, she left.

Regina didn’t want Emma to go. But she let her, knowing in her heart it was the best option for both of them. She didn’t even know if she was _capable_ of love, and if she had struggled to accept her confirmed soulmate, she had strong doubts that she could just fall for another so easily.

She knew she loved Henry. She also knew that she had once loved Daniel with all her heart. But she also knew that her heart had since then grown cold and dark, and now she had all the doubts of her capabilities. She had seen her heart many a time, a dark, almost entirely black tiny thing with only one small glimmer of red amidst all the darkness. She was afraid she had lost her chance, and was afraid of committing to something she wasn’t sure she could follow through with.

The kisses and cuddles she had shared with Emma were confusing. The bond they shared was the root of all her confusion – she was afraid that what she felt and thought were simply because they were so tightly knit together by the bond that she was mistaking it as love. She couldn’t risk trying and failing and causing them to fail at the bond and destroying them both.

And perhaps the kisses and cuddles hadn’t really meant as much as she thought – after all, Emma had been drugged and dazed and sick and most likely not in her right state of mind. She had been vulnerable, and maybe Regina had inadvertently taken advantage of that to somehow satisfy her own need for closeness wherever she could find it.

Once she had begun, Regina quickly realised she couldn’t stop the wave of thoughts that invaded her head. She laid back in the bed and covered her face with a pillow, sighing deeply in frustration as she fought to calm her mind.

_I should go talk to Robin,_ she decided in her head. _Remind myself of what real feelings feel like._


	11. They're Both Idiots

About half an hour and several potions and fever draughts later, Regina found herself at Robin’s camp in the woods. She had decided against taking the pain killer potion to avoid being inebriated, but still felt relatively woozy and nauseous as she made her way into the camp.

“Regina!” Robin called out. “What are you doing here?”

Regina smiled and shrugged. “I need to talk to you.”

Robin walked over and led her to the other side of the camp, where they went inside a tent and sat down at a table. He offered her some tea from a thermos, but she declined politely.

“So…what is it that you needed to talk to me about?”

Regina took a brief moment to just look at Robin. He was nice enough, she decided, with his kind blue eyes and handsome face. He had a nice body, too, and was the wonderful father of an adorable little boy. She couldn't deny that his kisses hadn't been all that awful. She felt something in her chest, like a small leap, and decided that was her heart telling her this was the one.

“Well…” She began, suddenly feeling extremely uncomfortable. “I just wanted to come and see how you were.”

“You wanted to see how Marian and I were.” Robin corrected her.

Regina stared at him, open-mouthed. “Well…now that you say it-”

“I understand your worry, but trust me – after I heard that you weren’t dead after all, I realised how stupid I’d been. I don’t care for Marian like I do for you, not anymore.”

“Really?”

“I realised I had been trying so hard for Roland, but I wasn’t really happy. Losing you – it felt worse than losing Marian ever did.”

Hearing those words should’ve made her feel happy – that much Regina knew. “Robin…I…”

“And I’m sorry.”

“Sorry?” Regina asked. “For wha-“

Before Regina could react, Robin leaned forward and blew some green smoke into her face. Almost instantly, she felt her mind clouding, and she fell onto the table, knocked out cold. Robin stood up and whistled, and from outside came Little John, dragging Dr. Whale.

“You know what to do.” Robin told him. “And you know what happens if you don’t.”

Regina’s unconscious body was carried out of the tent and into a nearby cave, where she was laid onto a crude hay mattress. Whale then injected an IV into her arm, and set up heavy duty anaesthetics to keep Regina drugged and out of anyone’s way. Just to be on the safe side, she was also chained to the wall and a magic-preventing cuff was attached to her hand.

“Now what, my king?”

Robin turned to look at the jester, Tom, with a smirk on his face. “Now…we begin.”

 

* * *

 

Three days passed until Emma dared to wonder what Regina was up to. After their brief talk, she hadn’t seen the woman at all – she hadn’t even been by with the ointments, although Emma no longer really needed them. After days passed and she heard nothing from her, Emma decided that Regina clearly didn’t want to see her and tried her best to ignore the nagging want at the back of her head.

When Regina failed to answer to any texts or calls, worry began shrouding her mind. She told herself everything was fine, that Regina probably hadn’t gotten herself a new phone yet after the trolls destroyed her previous one. But three days without any contact, without so much as seeing her, was too much for Emma. She told herself she was concerned because of Henry and because of their bond, trying all she could to suppress the feelings for the sake of what she thought was the best approach.

Finding a good time to sneak away from her friends and family to see Regina turned out to be much harder than she thought. Since she couldn’t very well tell them that she was going to go see if Regina was okay because she hadn’t heard from for a few days, sneaking away was really the only option. But after her two weeks of being dead and miraculous return, Emma found that she had very little time to herself. Wherever she went, there was someone who wanted to congratulate her and tell her how happy they were that she wasn’t dead.

When she finally did manage to sneak away, she found herself promptly at ease. Emma had always loved having alone time, and this time, it was sorely needed.

Arriving at Regina’s house, she immediately noticed that the lights were out and the door was locked. Since she wasn’t at her house, Emma headed to her office, only to find absolutely nothing there either. She was actually beginning to genuinely worry when she ran into Robin outside Regina’s office.

“Emma!” Robin exclaimed. “Fancy seeing you here.”

“Have you seen Regina?” Emma asked him. “I haven’t seen her for a while and she wasn’t at home or her office.”

“Oh, yeah, she’s…well, she’s at my place.”

_My place_. The words stung like poison in Emma’s ears. “Oh. Well, that’s good. Tell her to turn on her cell in case I need to reach her about Henry or something.”

“You needn’t worry,” Robin told her, “I’ve kept her busy. She’s perfectly fine.”

Emma cringed upon hearing that, and said a quick goodbye to Robin before climbing into her car and driving off. The thought of Regina and Robin being 'busy' made her very upset, and she could only think of one reason as to why – she was jealous.

She drove up to the hills, not noticing that another car was following her. She wasn’t too surprised, however, when she was joined by none other than Hook.

“Everything all right?”

Emma didn’t turn around. The last person she wanted to see right now was Hook, but she was too preoccupied with everything else to bother telling him to go away. Instead, she just leaned against the bumper of her car, looking over Storybrooke, promptly ignoring him.

“Oi. Swan?”

“Yes, Hook, what?” She snapped at him.

“I asked you a question.”

“I didn’t hear you.”

“You alright?”

Emma shrugged. “I guess.”

Hook came to lean against her car with her, his hand mere inches from hers. She turned to glance at him, and for a moment was surprised by how close he was. “What are you doing here?” She asked him as she shuffled a little further from him.

“I came to see if you were okay. You looked upset.”

“Were you stalking me?”

“I’ve been wanting to talk to you.”

“Well now’s as good a time as any. What do you want to talk about?”

“I think we both know.”

Emma threw a quizzical look at him. “I don’t think we do.”

“Oh, come on Swan, don’t say you don’t feel this…connection.” Hook exclaimed, gesturing between the two of them with his hook. “You can’t deny it.”

“Well-“

“You at least owe me a chance.”

“I don’t owe you anything.”

And then she felt a strong hand on her arm, yanking her towards him as his lips came to collide with hers. She was so shocked she couldn’t even move for a few lingering moments, but inside her head she was infinitely repulsed and disgusted to have Hook’s lips on hers. Though kissing him had been relatively enjoyable before, it had lost it’s charm – all she could think about was the fact that he smelled of cheap rum and sweat and that he was needlessly rough with her mouth and her arm. She was too preoccupied to notice the slight green flash that occurred right as their lips touched.

Regaining her senses, she pushed him away from her and wiped her mouth, sputtering curses at him. “What the hell?”

Hook sighed and turned on his heels. “I’m sorry…I really thought you wanted this.”

But before he could get to his car and drive off, he was stopped by Emma’s hand gripping his arm. She turned him around roughly and punched him in the jaw. She hit him so hard he flew some feet backward, landing on some roots. He collided with the ground roughly, and stayed there, groaning and holding his jaw.

“Don’t ever touch me without my permission, you hear me?” Emma yelled at him. “You’re lucky I didn’t throw you off the cliff!”

“I told you I was sorry!” Hook yelled as Emma stomped away to her car. “Please, I-“

Emma did not bother listening to him. She got into her car and drove off, fuming with anger. It was as though all she could taste was Hook, and suddenly she felt like she was going to throw up. All the way back home, she did her best to hold it back, and when she arrived at the loft, she barged in without so much as a hello and ran to the bathroom.

Snow and David exchanged a confused look as they heard gagging and other gross noises from the bathroom. This lasted for ten minutes, after which Emma emerged from the bathroom with a pained and disgusted look on her face.

“Are you okay?” Snow asked her, handing her a glass of water.

“Getting there.” Emma grumbled. She downed the glass in one go. “Got anything stronger?”

David reached for the whiskey and poured her a bit. “Here.”

Once the burning sensation of the whiskey had died down, Emma felt satisfied that she’d washed Hook’s taste out of her mouth. She then paused long enough to realise that both of her parents were looking at her expectantly.

“What?” She asked.

“You’re not sick.” Snow said. “Something happened. Tell me.”

Emma groaned, slumping her head against her arms on the table. “You don’t want to know.” She muttered.

“Why not?”

“Because he will go on a rampage.” Emma answered, pointing at David.

“I will not.”

“Really?” Emma asked. “Hook assaulted me.”

“He what!?” Both David and Snow yelled in surprise.

“Are you hurt?” Snow asked, looking at Emma with concern in her eyes.

Emma rolled her eyes. “Not that kind of assault.”

“What?”

“He kissed me without my consent.”

“I’m going to twist his-“

“Dad!” Emma stopped David before he could get up. “Don’t.”

“He needs to get his ass handed to him.” David grumbled.

“Oh, don’t worry, I punched him pretty hard.” Emma chuckled. “But it was gross.”

“I understand completely.” Snow said. “He is kind of gross.”

Emma shrugged. “I don’t know…I didn’t think he was before. But I guess I just don’t feel like that for him anymore.”

“That’s good. He’s an ass.”

“Dad!” Emma couldn’t help but laugh. David was not one to swear – Snow had a strict policy against it – but in this instance, one could see where Emma got her grumpy grumbly-ness from.

“At least tell me if you really put all your force into the punch.”

Emma thought back and remembered how far Hook had flown after her punch, and wondered if that was another side effect of her bond with Regina. “You bet.”

“Good.”

* * *

After Emma was gone, Hook dragged himself back to his car and drove only a little ways’ further down the road. He trudged through the now dark woods until he came to Robin’s camp, where he was welcomed by the Merry Men.

“What happened to you?” One of them asked with a snicker. Hook was holding his hand to his jaw, which felt as though it might be broken.

“The Saviour has quite the punch.” He muttered, wincing as moving his jaw caused him pains.

“So you did it then?”

Hook turned around to find Robin standing before him, an ice-pack in his hand.

“Here. For your jaw.”

“Yeah, I did it.” Hook said as he pressed the ice to his jaw. “But did it work?”

“Of course it did.” Robin told him. “I got the spell from Zelena, after all.”

“But why did you send trolls to her house?” Hook asked. “What point was there in that?”

“I needed to scare her a bit. I hoped that’d drive Regina to come and meet me.”

“Well I guess it worked then, eh?”

“Certainly did.” Robin chuckled, his eyes darting towards the cave where Regina was being kept in a medical coma. “She won’t bother us.”

“So when I do the last part, I’ll get my heart back?” Hook asked.

Robin smiled cheekily. “If you still want it back, that is.”

“I like the feel of my heart in my chest, thanks.” Hook told him. “But I don’t mind you holding onto it, either.”

“Of course you don’t.”

“So what is this final task?”

“You’re going to keep the Saviour away from town while I bring my men across.”

“And then what?”

“Then, Captain Handsome…” Robin drawled, grabbing Hook’s belt and yanking him closer, moving his face only inches from Hook’s. “Then we rule the world.”


	12. Don't Be Late

That night, and the next four nights that followed, Emma found herself unable to sleep. Each time she laid down in the dark and closed her eyes, she saw Regina. Her hair, her eyes, her hands and her body - all of her, but instead of it being a pleasurable thought as it had used to be, it was painful. Her heart, her mind, her entire existence ached with a want which she thought could never be satisfied. Thinking about Regina and Robin together, being ‘busy’, made her sick to her stomach to the point where she actually thought she was going to throw up.

The worst part was that she only had herself to blame. She couldn’t stop wondering what would have happened if she had just been honest with Regina, if she had just been honest with herself. But it was too late now. So far as Emma was concerned, Regina was with the love of her life, and that was how it was to be. After all, Robin was her soulmate, even though Emma didn’t believe in such things. Her opinion had no weight in the matter, anyway. Not even when she was beginning to feel that her feelings for Regina went far deeper than just a general infatuation.

Five days had passed since she had seen Robin. It had been over a week since she had seen or heard from Regina. She couldn’t help but be worried. Storybrooke was, in essence, a small town - she should’ve at least seen her around town. Emma had even spent an entire day parked outside of Regina’s office, waiting to see if she’d walk in or out, all the while telling herself that she was not stalking the woman but just ensuring she was alright. When she had failed to catch even a glimpse, her worry had multiplied - it was not like Regina to just disappear.

It was well past midnight when Emma’s phone suddenly buzzed. Groggy, tired and grumpy as ever, Emma took a long while to roll over and grab her phone. When she saw that she had received a text from Regina, her heart jumped to her throat and she couldn’t help the small exasperated gasp that escaped her lips.

**_Help me Emma I’ve been kidnapped and I don’t know where I am and I can’t use my magic and I think I’m hurt._ **

Just the first three words were enough to make Emma’s head spin, and as she quickly read the rest of the text she felt as though her heart was going to stop.

_Are you free?_

**_Yes I think, they left and I snuck out and found my phone_ **

_Can I call you?_

**_No they might hear me_ **

_I’m coming._

**_How are you going to find me?_ **

_Finding people used to be my job. Don’t worry, I’m coming._

**_Please hurry_ **

****_I'm coming for you._

Emma grabbed her coat and some boots and ran to her car. She decided it was best to leave her parents out of this - she didn’t even know where Regina was, let alone who had taken her. Not to mention she knew that if she told David he would insist on coming which would leave their home significantly less safe for her mother, brother and son.

Luckily enough, she had opted to keep her sword and gun in her car after the troll incident at Regina’s house. It took about three minutes for the locator app on her phone to find Regina - according to the map, she was about a two hour drive away in the middle of an abandoned town.

“Of course she’s in the middle of nowhere.” Emma grumbled as she started her car and sped into the night.

* * *

It took Emma a little less than two hours to get to the abandoned town - speed limits are just suggestions, after all. With each passing mile she had felt her heart grow colder and the wrenching feeling in her gut growing, and by the time she had reached in the town she had felt significantly weaker. She reasoned to herself that this was because she hadn’t slept in days, but something didn’t quite feel right about the whole setup.

She parked her car on the empty main street and pulled out her phone to follow the gps tracker to where Regina was. In her other hand she held her gun, loaded, and on her hip hung her sword. Just in case.

The map showed that Regina was inside a half-burned town house, and so Emma crept inside. She wasn’t sure who or what had taken Regina, though she had her suspicions that the ever so ominously not present King John had something to do with it.

She turned each corner quickly, expecting to run into masked villains or armored guards. However, as she passed through the building and found no sign of any living souls, worry began to cloud her mind.

The tracker told her that she was within feet of Regina, but she saw no place where the woman could possibly be. She walked the remaining distance, only to find Regina’s phone laying on a dusty old armchair.

A floorboard creaked behind her, and she spun around with her gun raised. Her eyes widened when she saw none other than Hook standing before her, a large baseball bat in his hands.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Emma yelled.

“What does it look like?” Hook replied with a sneer. “Getting rid of you.”

“Where is Regina?”

“Not here, I’m afraid.”

Emma felt herself overrun by fury. She lowered one hand off of her gun and pointed it at Hook. “You tell me right now or you’re as good as dead.”

“Go ahead - magic me.”

Emma tried. Nothing happened - not a spark, not a flame, not even a tingle. She could hear Hook snickering, and with a start realised what had happened. And then it was as though she had blacked out, because the next second she had Hook pinned against the wall with her hand on his throat, the other pressing her gun to his stomach.

“What did you do to Regina?” Emma snarled, her eyes burning with rage. Hook was pale and struggling to breathe, and Emma quickly realised that she was holding him too hard - he was hanging in the air, his legs kicking as her fingers were crushing his throat.

She loosened her grip slightly and repeated the question.

“I didn’t do anything.”

“Where is she?”

“Not here.”

“Where did you take her?”

" _Help me, Emma_." Hook said, imitating Regina's voice.  _"I've been kidnapped."_

"You-"

"Yes, me. God, you're thicker than I thought."

"Where is she?" Emma pressed, her anger flaring.

“She never left the town.” Hook snapped. He was trying his best to keep at least some of his confidence, but being held in the air by a woman significantly smaller than himself did not help.  _Robin, help me._

There was a puff of green smoke, and suddenly Emma fell against the wall where Hook had just stood. He was gone.

She punched the wall so hard her hand went through. Emma wasn’t so sure whether it was because of her strength or the fragility of the wood, but she didn’t care. She didn't have the time to care that her hand was bleeding and full of splinters. She was _two hours_ away from Storybrooke. She had played right into King John’s hand. And Hook was with him.

Not to mention she didn’t have her magic.

She was so frustrated she wanted to scream. But instead she just picked up the armchair and threw it against the wall, which shattered on impact. After a few more chairs and tables were effectively wrecked, she stomped out of the house and into her car and sped back towards Storybrooke way faster than the speed limits would allow.

* * *

Meanwhile in Storybrooke, everything was calm. There wasn’t a noise to be heard, not a person out on the streets, not a car passing by. Not even the birds made a sound, though they should have been chorusing at their loudest. The sun shone over the town, but there was no one there to appreciate it.

Everything was calm because everyone was asleep.

Soon after Emma had left the town’s perimeter, Robin’s men had come out of their hiding and dropped sleeping gas bombs all over town, effectively casting anyone not wearing a special mask into a deep sleep. Once everyone was tuckered out, the men gathered people from all families and groups of friends - they took husbands but left the wives, took one friend but not the other. This was to ensure the obedience of the townspeople once they awoke, for the sleeping bombs only lasted so long.

The entirety of Emma’s family was taken, too, and any of those with magical abilities were set under the same general anesthesia as Regina had been under for the past week.

When that was done, all was set for the Savior’s return, for she was the last ingredient to Robin Hood’s plan.

* * *

Although Emma would have really preferred to blast into town and destroy everyone in her path until she found Regina(and her family), she knew it would have been a foolish thing to do. So instead, she left her car just outside the town’s perimeter and headed into the woods.

She knew King John would be looking for her - Hook had been holding a bat instead of a sword, so obviously his intention had been to bring her back alive and unconscious rather than dead. This in turn told Emma that the King needed her for something, though what it may be yet eluded her.

She had tried calling her parents and her friends, but none picked up. This had led her to conclude that they were either kidnapped or dead, and she had spent most of her drive praying it was the former rather than the latter.

 **_Emma_ ** _?_

Emma felt all energy drain from her when she heard Regina’s voice echo in her mind. She leaned heavily against a tree and fought to keep her breathing steady, but to no avail.

**_Emma??_ **

_Regina?_

**_Thank god._ **

_Where are you? Are you okay? Are you hurt?_

**_I don’t know._ **

_How?_

**_I think I’m drugged. Don’t trust Robin. He...he’s not who I thought he was._ **

_Where are you?_

**_Somewhere in the woods...a cave. There’s a big oak tree nearby._ **

_How do I help you?_

**_I don’t have much time. I’m fighting to stay awake._ **

_How do I help you?_

There was no response. Emma sighed in frustration and let her head fall back against the tree. She now felt more alone than she had ever felt - without Regina and her family, she was truly alone against god knows what.

She did, however, know where Regina had been talking about - there weren’t so many caves with oak trees nearby in the woods, and she had found them all with Henry.

_Henry._

Emma couldn’t afford to worry about Henry. Not now. She had to keep going and trust that she was right. She had to find Regina, because without her, she had no chance.

Without her magic, she had no chance. But it was also beginning to dawn onto Emma that she felt stronger around Regina - hell, she _was_ stronger around Regina.

_Together you can conquer anything._

She ran all the way to the cave, not once stopping to think or rest. She hid in the bushes and leaves, making sure to not make too much noise - after all, the Merry Men lived in these woods and most likely had superhuman senses regarding their grounds.

She arrived at the clearing and felt so overjoyed she thought she might cry. There, at the mouth of the cave, stood just one guard, looking as bored as ever. Emma didn’t even have to think of a strategy - with just one idiot to trick, she was all but already past him.

She circled the clearing and got onto the rock right above the guard. She dropped onto him, and before he could even react, she had hit him in the head so hard that he fell to the ground, unconscious.

When she burst in to find Walsh chained to the wall, along with the sleeping forms of Gold, the Blue Fairy as well as Regina, she almost thought she had been busted. But the good doctor only looked happy to see her.

“Emma, thank god.” He whispered.

“What did you do to her?” Emma snarled, kneeling beside Regina. The woman felt cold, and there was an IV in her arm, but otherwise she looked fine.

“She’s just sedated.” Walsh said. “Please, you have to hurry. He has my heart...he’ll see you…”

“Take the IV off.”

Walsh did as asked, and Emma promptly gathered Regina’s body into her arms. “How long till she wakes up?”

“I don’t know...maybe an hour or two.” Walsh said. “What about me?”

Emma reached down and snagged his chains right out of the wall. She did so for Gold’s and the Blue Fairy’s chains, and then turned to look at Walsh. “Take care of them.”

“Where are you going?”

“I am taking Regina somewhere safer than this.”

“But what about them?”

“You’ll figure it out.” Emma quipped as she stood up with Regina in her arms and ran out. Although the woman was knocked out cold and as limp as a rag doll, Emma still felt a warmth spreading through her from simply holding her close.

She took Regina to another nearby cave, which only she and Henry knew about because it’s entrance was covered with vines. There she laid Regina onto the cave floor, ever so gently, and sat down beside her to wait.

Half an hour passed and nothing happened. Regina was still as deep asleep as she had been, and there had been no change in her condition whatsoever. With each passing minute Emma was growing more and more frustrated.

And then her phone rang.

She was so surprised that she dropped her phone into the dirt. She fumbled around a bit to reach it and answered quickly, not bothering to dust the dirt off.

“Hello, Emma.” Robin’s voice drawled.

“Robin.”

“I was just calling to check if you were...okay.”

“I’m fine. I’m going to kill you.”

“How frightening.” Robin mocked. “I have a proposal for you. Care to hear it?”

“What?”

“You come here and surrender yourself...and I won’t destroy your family.”

Emma caught her breath. “How do I know you won’t just kill them after you’ve killed me?”

“Oh, darling - I’m not going to kill you. I have much greater plans for you.”

“What plans?”

“None of your business.” Robin snapped. “Meet me at Granny’s in half an hour. Don’t be late.”

Emma cursed as she heard Robin hang up on her. She cursed again when she realised she had no choice but to leave that very instant or be late and suffer those repercussions.

She laid a gentle hand on Regina’s cheek and looked at the woman with more love than she had ever adorned on anyone. Like this, with Regina unconscious and unable to make her feel nervous, Emma was able to feel and act as she wished.

She wanted to kiss Regina. She really did. But Regina was asleep and unable to consent. It wasn't right, not like this.

"I'm so sorry, Regina." She whispered softly.

So she stood up instead and walked out of the cave, not wanting to look back.

She could not look back.

She could not, because she knew that if she did she would never want to leave.


	13. Stop

The first thing Regina felt as she began waking up was the gentle touch of Emma’s hand on her face. She still had her eyes closed, and she had absolutely no control over her body - it was as though she was trapped inside her head with weights placed on every cell of her body. Still groggy and drugged, her attention was taken by that slight, feather-like warmth on her skin. When it slipped away, she wanted to cry out in protest. She wanted to grab Emma and pull her in close, closer, and hold her and be with her in the way she had wanted for so long.

But she couldn’t. She heard Emma’s clothes rustling as she stood up, and then she heard her voice.

“I’m so sorry, Regina.”

Emma’s voice was soft and gentle and so full of sorrow and at the brink of breaking that it made Regina’s heart hurt.

And then Regina heard Emma’s footsteps disappear into the distance and she wanted to scream. She didn’t know what Emma was doing, or why she was sorry, or why she was going away - but from the tone of her voice she knew it was nothing good.

She wanted to get up and run after her, to go with her, to keep her safe because Regina knew Emma had no chance against Robin alone and without her magic. But her limbs were not cooperating - hell, even her eyelids were too heavy for her to lift. It was as though someone had placed the world to sit atop her chest, preventing her from moving and breathing. Her head spun; she was still somewhere in between dreams and reality, and she was royally confused.

In her dreams, Emma had been hers, and hers only. Regina had dreamt of the life they could have - of drowsy Saturday mornings and Sunday brunches and of family movie nights with Henry, of goodbye kisses and good morning kisses and the kisses that said it all - and it broke her heart to be back. In her dreams, everything had been perfect. In her dreams, she had been happy.

In her dreams, she had seen her happy ending.

But this was reality. And reality is never perfect, especially not in Storybrooke.

In the real world, Emma Swan was not yet hers. Nothing was, and nothing would be if Robin accomplished his feat. The budding ‘something’ that had been carefully building with Emma, and which she had been stupidly avoiding and suppressing, was all but demolished - for all she knew, the blonde idiot had already gone and done the heroic thing and sacrificed her life for the good of all.

Regina could not stand the idea of watching another love die. She would not stand for it. When Daniel had died, she hadn’t had any chance of saving him - she had been helpless against her mother. Now, she had a second chance at saving someone she loved, and she was feeling just as helpless.

She felt a sob breaking through her chest and squeezed her eyes shut - and then felt her fist clenching. It was the strangest feeling - it was as though she was learning to do it the first time, as though she were a baby again and everything in her body was for her to learn. She uncurled her fist and clenched it again, confirming that she could at least move one of her hands. Suddenly full of determination, she began trying to move, and bit by bit, her body awoke.

Regina had no idea how much time had passed after Emma had gone. She was sitting up, her legs still regaining their senses, but her mind was clear and she was just waiting for her body to catch up. She was frustrated. She was annoyed. She was afraid.

But most of all, she was furious.

If she found that he had touched even a hair on Emma’s head, she was going to rip his head off.

And even if Emma was fine, she was still going to do that because _no one_ kidnaps the Queen, and no one sure as hell doesn’t threaten her woman.

No one.

* * *

When Emma arrived at Granny’s, she found both Hook and Robin standing outside in the middle of the street. Surrounding the area were all of Robin’s Merry Men, alongside short gangly hooded figures which Emma quickly(and painfully) recognized as goblins. All were wielding guns and bows and swords, and Emma quickly realised she was greatly outnumbered.

“Welcome!” Robin called out, spreading his hands wide as he walked towards her with a smirk on his face.

“Welcome to what?” Emma snarled, her hand resting on her gun holster.

“The end of the world as you know it, of course.”

“You’re awfully pompous, you know that?”

Robin tutted. “I’m ambitious - there’s a difference.”

“Tell me - what drives the good Robin Hood to this kind of madness?” Emma taunted him. “And where is this mysterious King John who I’ve heard so much about?”

“Haven’t you heard?” Robin asked, feigning surprise. “Robin Hood’s dead.”

Emma stared at him, wide-eyed, sure that he’d lost his mind. “But...you’re Robin Hood.”

“Ah, but I’m not.” Robin snickered. “I guess I have to enlighten you slightly - what villain would I be if I didn’t indulge you in a sob-story of my past and the horrors which I’m about to unleash?”

“Who are you?” Emma growled, her eyes glaring at the man. “And what have you done to Robin?”

“You never even met him, dear. You see, I had a twin brother once, a few years ago. His name was Richard, and he was the King even though I was elder. Our father chose him because he had a kinder and truer heart and deprived me of _my_ birthright.”

“So you’re John?”

“Don’t interrupt.” Robin snapped. “King Richard, the kindest king in all the lands, with the heart of a lion. It was disgusting. And, to top it all off, he assumed an alias - Robin Hood - to help the peasants of his kingdom. When the first curse was cast and ogres overran the realms, he went off to war and left me in charge. Fortunately enough, and with a little help from a bribed soldier, he never returned from war, and so I became King. It’s not so hard to defeat ogres when you have magical abilities, you see. But I also realised that this...Robin Hood was actually a good way of controlling the people, so I took my brother’s place as the green-clad hero of Sherwood forest. I even got a matching tattoo to convince the fools.”

Emma felt her breath catch in her chest when she listened to the man recount the murder of his brother. Regina had been shown her true love years before the curse, years before the man before her claimed to have assumed the guise of Robin Hood. The man with the lion tattoo had been Richard, not John. Regina’s soulmate was dead, and had been for years - the man she had thought to be her soulmate was actually his murderer.

“What does your life story have to do with the fact that you want to destroy everything I love?” Emma sneered, purposefully taking a step towards him.

“I wouldn’t taunt me if I were you. One word from me and your family dies.”

Emma, however, did not cower. “Whatever you’re planning on doing, I will stop.”

“Why? Because you’re the Savior?” Robin laughed, and his men laughed alongside him. “My dear, you haven’t even got your magic.”

“I don’t need magic.”

“We’ll see about that.”

“What do you want, _Robin?”_

Emma grinned as she saw anger flare across the king’s face when she called him by the wrong name. “It’s King John to you.”

“What do you want, _John_?” Emma retorted. The King's face darkened in anger. She knew she was in dangerous waters, but she couldn’t help herself - in some manner, she found herself acting like she imagined Regina would in her situation.

 _Regina._ Emma was distracted for a split second as the thought of Regina passed her mind. She was probably waking up around now, all alone in the woods, possibly hurt and lost and perhaps even afraid.

“Insolent bitch.”

Emma’s mind was ripped to the present when she heard those words, which were the exact words she had heard the Sheriff yell at Regina back in the Enchanted forest. Anger boiled up inside her, both at the events of the past and the present, and she was glad to notice Robin’s demeanor slightly shift upon noticing her fury.

“I don’t need you alive.” King John then shrugged. “I can still rip your heart out of your warm corpse.” He walked a ways further and turned around, an insufferable smirk still on his face. “I’ll enjoy watching you die, you know.”

“Then I’m afraid I’ll be disappointing you then.”

The King snapped his fingers and all of a sudden, Emma saw goblins and men alike rushing toward her. With almost inhuman speed, she whipped out her gun and shot at the few men she saw at the rooftops and behind cars waiting with guns and bows in their hands. By the time the first swing of a sword came near her, all of the ‘snipers’ were taken out and she was ready with her own sword.

Emma had never been too handy with swords. David had taught her the basics, but it took years to refine the muscles to the point where it was easy. This had been told to her by David, who himself had taken quite some time to get to the point where he was now.

He hadn’t taken into account magical help. Or cheating, if you like to think that way. Emma’s strength, which had multiplied by a great number because of her bond with Regina, gave her a great advantage in the fight. Fuelled by anger and determination, she cut through men and goblins and trolls, not stopping to think whether she had wounded or killed. Blood spattered on the ground, on her clothes and on her face, but she didn’t care. Some scrapes and cuts began appearing on her body, too, as in the absence of a shield she remained largely unprotected when she wasn’t moving at lightning speed. But she didn’t care. She only had one chance and this was it. There was no space for Good or Evil - there was only survival.

At some point, she picked up a fallen soldier’s sword in her left hand, and continued to fight using two swords instead of one. What she didn’t realise that she was literally warding off a small army of men and monsters. This fact was not lost on the King and Hook, who watched from afar with fear growing in their hearts.

“I thought you took away her magic?” John growled to Hook, who scowled back at him.

“I did. But that didn’t take away her physical strength.”

“She wasn’t that strong before.” the King snarled. “No one’s that strong. No one human.”

“Shouldn’t we leave?”

“You can.”

“Why can’t you?”

“I need her heart.”

“Why didn’t you bargain? Threaten her mother or something?”

King John turned to glare at Hook with all his might. “I thought this would be easier. I need to conserve my magic for what’s ahead.”

“Nothing’s ever easy with Swan.”

“Don’t you think I know that?”

Both men suddenly fell silent. They turned slowly to look back at what a moment ago had been a battlefield. There were piles of men and goblins and trolls on the ground, some dead, some wounded, but all fallen all the same. Amidst them stood Emma, her white tank top splattered with blood and her face in the fiercest, angriest glare either had ever seen. In her hands she held two swords, both up and ready for another strike if necessary. But it was her eyes which really made the blood drain from their faces and freeze in their veins, for they were red - bloody, shining red, like the blood which had been spilled all over the pavement. Red like rubies.

As Emma walked toward them, they saw the piercing fury in those red eyes, and it struck fear in their hearts.

A small number of men stood around the King, the strongest of his fighters, forming his personal guard. Even with their strength, John severely doubted their ability to ward off the pissed off blonde who was coming their way.

“I told you,” Emma yelled to him, “that you were going to be disappointed.” She was tired. Her back ached, and she was sure the fever was back. Her head was spinning from the adrenaline and excitement, and she was methodically ignoring the blood which covered her swords and her body. Now was not the time to wallow in guilt.

* * *

When Regina finally found herself awake enough to walk, she almost immediately attempted apparating herself. The first attempt only carried her outside the cave, so she sat back down and forced herself to rest before attempting the feat again.

In a cloud of purple, she found herself amidst corpses and wounded men, the tangy stench of blood floating in the chilly night air. She looked around and felt a chill upon seeing the death and destruction around her - it had been years since she had been standing in a battlefield, and she felt a small rush of excitement. Guess old habits die hard.

A little ways down the road, she saw a small group of people, and amongst them, a flash of gold.

 _Emma_.

She apparated again, and appeared beside Emma. Regina was tired from the effort, and so she leaned against Emma’s shoulder, resulting in a surprised gasp from the blonde as she whirled around to point her sword at her. When she saw that it wasn’t an enemy, Emma smiled quickly before turning back to face the king.

“See? Now there’s two of us.” Her left hand dropped the other sword and reached to place a reassuring hand on Regina’s back.

“Regina, darling, look awful.” John quipped, trying to regain some sense of nobility. “You’re clearly not well at all. And you-” He said, pointing his sword at Emma, “You are still no match for me, not without your magic.”

An idea flashed in Regina’s mind, quick and clear as day. “Well let’s even the scales, then.” She snarled. She grabbed Emma’s waist and pulled her to herself, crushing the blonde’s lips with her own. She devoured Emma with all she had, and prayed to every god known to man that what she was attempting would work.

A pulse of heat ran through their bodies, and there was a small explosion of magic which passed through everyone around them. Regina couldn’t help but grin against Emma’s lips as she realised it had worked.

_A true love’s kiss._

Emma, on the other hand, was completely stunned. One moment, she had been staring down the man who wanted her dead. The next, her lips were engulfed with Regina’s, and  then there was a pulse and she realized that the kiss was so much more than just a kiss. She felt breathless, and for a moment she forgot that anyone else even existed - all that mattered were Regina’s lips on hers, soft and tender and demanding and  _perfect_. And though neither of them saw it, her eyes faded from the glimmering blood red back to hazel.

But as soon as it had begun, it was over - Regina pulled away, a weak smile on her face, and Emma turned to look at the king and Hook with a sly grin on her face.

“Now...where were we?” She drawled, her voice dripping with the sheer intensity of the power which she now possessed. Behind her, Regina felt shivers run down her spine as she felt the static hum of magic run through the air. She stared at Emma in awe, proud of the regal intensity the blonde was able to channel into her words and poise.

King John realised in an instant that he was no match against these two women, and opted for his backup plan.

Because every good villain has a backup plan.

He reached into his pocket and threw a bean into the ground beneath his feet, and almost instantly, a portal appeared. “Kill her family.” He shouted as he grabbed Hook by the arm and jumped into the green vortex. His voice was soon all that was left of him - the ground closed back up, and left in it’s wake a stunned group of soldiers. His voice, however, was somehow charmed - it floated through the air, towards the docks, evidently to carry a message to whoever was holding half the town hostage.

Emma realised she wouldn’t find her family on time. It was impossible. The soldiers were approaching slowly, their swords raised and fear present in their eyes. Emma could feel Regina’s exhaustion behind her - she would be of little help, even if she wanted to.

There was a crackle in the air as Emma drew in magic from within herself and from the air. She breathed in deeply, placing her arms on either side of her body as she unleashed everything within herself and yelled at the top of her lungs: “Stop!”

A golden pulse ran from her hands to the ground, where it exploded into several rings which radiated away from her and out into the night. The soldiers stopped. The whole world stopped.

Emma turned to glance at Regina. The woman was staring at her with sheer shock in her eyes, her mouth hanging open as she stumbled to find words.

“You…” Regina gasped, still not believing it. “What did you do?”

Emma shook her head, not sure herself. “I don’t know.”

“What were you thinking?”

“What?”

“What did you think when you cast the spell?”

“I just wanted everything to stop.” Emma whimpered. “I don’t know what I did.”

Regina glanced at the clocktower. The hands were not moving -  a minute surely had passed as she watched, and yet she saw no change in their position.

“Regina.”

Regina whirled around as she heard the fear in Emma’s voice. “What is it?”

“Look.”

Regina’s eyes followed Emma’s pointing finger, and what she saw surprised her so much she couldn’t help but gasp. It was a bullet, hanging mid-air, some feet away from where Emma had been standing. She backtracked it’s trajectory and saw the shooter, his gun still up, his eyes glassy and unmoving.

“Emma,” She gasped in awe, “You didn’t just stop them. You stopped everything. You stopped _time._ ”

The blonde looked as though she was going to faint, her face as pale as a white sheet. “I...I just wanted everything to stop. I didn’t....”

“Emma,” Regina stepped closer and grabbed Emma by the shoulders. “This is amazing.”

“But…” Emma winced. “I didn’t _mean to_.”

“Who cares?”

“Can you do this? Stop time?”

Regina shook her head. “No one can.”

“I did.”

“Which is why it is so amazing.”

“I’m afraid.”

Regina’s expression softened when she heard those words. She took Emma’s hand and pulled her closer, placing another hand on the woman’s waist. “I know you are. But it’s alright.”

“I just...I didn’t expect to have all this...power.”

Regina chuckled and leaned her forehead against Emma’s. “Look. We’ll have plenty of time for whining and wondering and talking later. But right now I think we should go rescue your family - don’t you?”

“Henry.”

“Yes, Henry.” Regina breathed. She leaned in slightly and kissed Emma softly. “Come on. Let’s go.”

Emma paused for a second as Regina began walking. She wanted to tell Regina everything - what she felt and how she felt and how sorry she was and how she only ever wanted Regina to be hers - but she knew the woman was right. Rescue mission first, talking later.

 


	14. Froot Loops and Revelations

Walking through Storybrooke while it was frozen in time was eerie. Not much was different, visually speaking, if you didn’t count the few odd birds frozen mid-flight. But the feeling of the town had definitely changed. It certainly felt as though time had frozen - the air felt thick and heavy, as though it were just a curtain. Every movement they made, every step they took, felt like they were in a dream.

Regina was growing more and more tired with each step she took. Emma had suggested she stay behind and rest, but Regina wouldn’t hear it. She wanted to stay with Emma.

They had retrieved something of Henry’s and used that to create a locator spell, which they were now following. It seemed that anything Emma or Regina touched was suddenly drawn into their little pocket of frozen time, and so they were following a floating beanie through the streets of Storybrooke.

The beanie ran into the door of a warehouse and stopped there, but they knew they were at their destination simply by the number of guards surrounding the place. One by one, Emma touched the guards, bringing them back to life only to immediately stun them out of consciousness. They had done the same back in front of Granny’s - not knowing how long the time would remain stopped, they had opted to eliminate any possible threat as they went along.

They stepped inside and found the missing townspeople, all frozen in time like the rest of them. Regina remained at the door while Emma tiptoed amongst the people, doing her best to avoid touching anyone so as to not awaken them.

“You could just follow the beanie, you know.” Regina suggested to her. Emma’s head popped back up and she scrunched her eyebrows at Regina’s sarcasm in an adorable way. “Fine, Miss Smartypants.” She grumbled as she came back and ran after the quickly disappearing beanie.

She was led down the stairs and into a basement, where she found her family. Snow was cradling Neal, one hand chained to the wall. David and Henry had both their hands chained, and both had their faces frozen with concerned and annoyed expressions on their faces.

Emma couldn’t bear to look at them, and so she turned away and slammed into Regina’s chest. She hadn’t noticed that the woman had followed her, but was pleased by the sudden contact and leaned into Regina, who in turn wrapped her arms around the blonde. Her eyes were fixed on her son, and she longed to touch him and hug him and bring him back to life.

“Emma…” She whispered, her mouth only inches from the woman’s ear. “Now’s the time to undo the spell.”

“I don’t know how.” Emma whispered frantically. “I can’t, I--”

“You do know how. Come on.” Regina coaxed her. “Relax. Just think it.”

“But I--”

“Relax.”

Emma sighed and closed her eyes, taking a step away from Regina. She tried to imagine the spell lifting and time starting again, but nothing happened.

“Try doing something with your hands.”

Emma waved her hands around, feeling like an idiot, but nothing happened. Angry and frustrated, she clenched her fists and stomped her foot.

“That’s clearly not working.” Regina remarked coolly. “Maybe-”

But then Emma unclenched her fists and the world started again. There were collective gasps all around as Emma and Regina were noticed, and the gasps were followed by a multitude of questions.

“What are you doing here?”

“How did you come here?”

“What happened?”

“What is all that blood?”

“Are you hurt?”

Not knowing which question to answer first frustrated Emma greatly. She raised her hand to hush the people around her and looked at each of them gently. “It’s okay. We...it’s over. For now.”

“How?”

As Emma went around and ripped the chains off of each of her loved ones, she recounted the events of the day to them. Regina watched from the door, which she was leaning heavily on, and saw how shock and astonishment spread onto their faces as Emma’s story went on.

“So they just...disappeared?” Snow asked. Baby Neal was sleeping sound in her arms, and she looked weary but happy all the same.

“They’ll be back.” Emma told her. “I’m quite sure.”

“But we’ll be ready.” David said.

“Yes, we will.” Emma told him, throwing a sideways glance at Regina.

They headed back upstairs and proceeded to free the rest of the townspeople, all of whom were equally as confused. There was a buzz all around as people began asking and answering questions, and by the end of the hour there were at least ten different versions of what happened and who really did it.

As the townspeople began heading back to their loved ones, Emma realised with a start that there was still a massive pile of carnage in the middle of the main street for them to discover. In that same second, she realised that she was covered in blood.

Blood that she had spilled.

Blood from people and creatures which she had wounded.

Blood from those whom she had killed.

She felt sick and woozy and the next second she was falling and being caught by familiar arms. She was lowered to the ground as a mangled mess of worried questions and cries surrounded her like a cloud, but all that Emma could really process were the memories that were returning to her, one by one.

She flinched as she recalled the sound her sword had made when she had sliced open the abdomen of a grown man. She winced when her mind was filled with the images of all the men she had cut down mercilessly, of all the blood that had been spilt by her hand.

But then she felt gentle hands brushing her hair, and her mind grew the tiniest bit calmer. She felt her head resting on soft thighs, and knew who had caught her. She had squeezed her eyes shut as she had fallen, and she now opened them to see Regina looking down at her with a worried expression on her face. David and Mary Margaret were kneeling beside her; her hand was being held by David, and she could see the worry and fear in both their eyes. A flashing image passed through her mind - the moment of pure fear in a young man’s eyes as her sword thrust deep through his chest and he sputtered blood and fell down, dead. She flinched again and closed her eyes, bringinging her hands up to cover her face.

“Emma?” She heard Regina’s voice, concerned and muffled. She could hear David repeating her name, too, and Mary Margaret and Henry. They were all calling her name, trying to bring her back to reality. She tried her hardest to come back. Slowly but surely, her breathing came back down from the erratic, rapid breaths she had been inhaling moments before, and soon after her racing heart calmed down to a steady beat. She opened her eyes carefully, but was afraid and ashamed to look at her family. So instead, she looked at Regina, and in an instant knew that the woman had seen what she had seen - or at least a part of it.

“It’s okay,” Regina murmured as she leaned in closer with a careful smile on her face. “You’ll be okay.”

“How can I be okay when I did...that?” Emma asked her, panic rising in her chest. “How can I ever be okay?”

“Okay with what?” Snow asked warily.

“I-” Emma tried to speak but the words died in her mouth. She stared at her mother, her mouth open, but could not speak.

“Listen to me.” Regina said, turning Emma’s head back to look at her. “You did what you had to do. None of what you did was for pleasure or for fun. It was survival, Emma. If you hadn’t killed then you would have been killed.”

“Killed?” Emma heard David exclaim. She also heard the gentle swat that her mother administered him, and the quiet ‘shh’ that followed soon after. She groaned and tried to get up, but was pushed back down by Regina’s gentle hands on her shoulders.

“Rest,” She was ordered, “There’s no need to rush.”

Emma frowned at the woman above her. “Aren’t you the one who should be resting?”

Regina chuckled and shook her head. “Maybe. But I barely did anything just then - you saved the town, dear, not me. So rest.”

“You were practically in a _coma_ , Regina, for a _week_.” Emma pointed out. “And god knows how much energy you spent getting to me. I know you’re tired.”

“So what if I am? At least I didn’t faint.”

“Neither did I.” Emma grumbled.

“Then what was this?”

“A gracious, planned fall?”

While the two of them had their exchange, Emma’s parents looked back and forth between the pair. It was odd, the ease that had suddenly appeared in the relationship between the two - just weeks before, there had been ice and bickering and inflated egos on both sides. And now it was just gone.

“They bicker like they’re married.” Mary Margaret murmured into David’s ear. David nodded and chuckled slightly, which was noticed by both Emma and Regina.

“What?” Emma asked them. “What’s funny?”

“Nothing.” David said.

“You’re lying.”

“I’m not telling you.”

Emma huffed and decided she had had enough. She got up, still slightly woozy, but was determined to be fine. A gentle, but strong hand held her arm as she steadied herself, but this hand wasn’t Regina’s. It was David’s, whose help she reluctantly accepted.

“Let’s go home.”

Regina knew that invitation would not be extended to her. She turned to Henry and smiled. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”

“I’m glad you’re okay, too.” Henry replied with a cautious smile. “I’m sorry I didn’t notice you missing.”

Regina bit her lip, tears in her eyes, and pulled him in for a hug. “It’s okay. Things have been hectic anyway.”

“I was scared, Mom.”

“Of course you were.”

“I couldn’t do anything.”

“I know. It’s okay. The best thing you did was make it through.” Regina murmured into his hair. “But I think your Mom wants you to get home with her. Go.”

Henry took a few steps towards the Charmings, who had gotten a few paces away, but then stopped for a brief moment. “Good night, Mom.”

“Good night, Henry.”

The instant he was a little further away, Regina poofed to where the fight had taken place. She knew that the Charmings were coming this way, and wasn’t damn well going to let her son witness this much carnage. So, using up almost all that was left of her strength, she willed the carnage to move to the outskirts of town. She would deal with it later.

The last scrap of strength was used to get her home, to her bedroom, where she collapsed into bed without so much as a thought about changing. She was exhausted beyond belief, despite just having spent a week asleep. Most of her weakness came from lack of food, she realised with a start, and she cursed herself for not taking herself to the kitchen. She rolled over and rummaged through the drawers of her nightstand, miraculously finding a bar of chocolate which had been there since Halloween. Although she usually had refined taste and would have never eaten such a thing under any other circumstances, she was desperate.

Eating sugar into an empty stomach resulted in a quick sugar high, during which Regina found herself unable to control her giggles and joy as she went downstairs to get herself more food. But, having been gone a week, most of the food in her fridge had gone bad. So it ended up being that she found herself on the floor of her kitchen at 1am eating Froot Loops out of the box. It had been too much of an effort to walk the five feet to the nearest chair, and so she slid down against the counter and sat on the white tiles.

She was starting to feel a bit drowsy when there was a knock on her door. At first, she didn’t make the connection between the sound and having to do something. The second knock irritated her, but by the third time she had realised she should get up and answer her door. She groaned and got up on her wobbly legs, and walked to the door using whatever she could reach as leverage and support.

She threw the door open to find Emma walking away from her house, still in her bloodied clothes.

“Emma?” She called out, her voice oddly high and pleading. The blonde whirled around and practically ran to the door. There was a strange expression on her face - it was as though she were full of determination and fear and courage and nerves all at the same time.

“I thought you were asleep.” Emma explained before Regina had time to ask the question.

“I wasn’t.”

“Are you okay?” Emma asked, eyeing Regina warily. “You look funny. And you’re swaying. Are you drunk?”

“No!” Regina replied, with a little too much emphasis than she would have liked. “I haven’t eaten solid food in a week and the first thing I ate was a chocolate bar and Froot Loops and I think I’m sugar high. And I’m exhausted.”

“Right.” A wide smile spread onto Emma’s lips, and for a moment Regina thought about grabbing her face and kissing her. But instead she stepped aside and invited the blonde in. “I’d offer you food but all I have is cereal and no milk.”

“Cereal’s fine.” Emma told her. “Can I use your shower?”

“Couldn’t you just have used your own at home?” Regina asked her. She hadn’t meant to sound so standoffish, but the words were out of her mouth and it was too late. Emma flinched the tiniest bit, and Regina immediately continued: “I mean, you don’t have any clothes here, so showering won’t really help much if you put on your bloody clothes.”

“I--” Emma began, but found herself at a loss - again. “I don’t know. I just...needed to see you.”

Those words snuck through the shield Regina had put up, slithered under her skin and went right into her heart, causing her to feel warm and touched and giddier than ever. “You go ahead. I’ll see if I have something that you can wear.”

It was all too natural for two women who had spent the past four years denying themselves the truth. It was all too natural for two women who had fought on opposing sides of Good and Evil, for two women who had once thought to be enemies, for two women who through all hardships had come out as one functioning unit of strength and support.

And yet, natural was how it played out. Emma trudged upstairs to the bathroom, and proceeded to scrub every inch of her skin so roughly her skin actually became raw and pink. She would not stand for any speck to remind her of what she had done. The water was so hot it steamed up the entire bathroom and the shower cubicle she was in, so that when Regina snuck in to place a pile of clothes onto the counter, all she could see was Emma’s slim figure in the foggy glass. Of course, she made sure to avoid looking, but there were all too many mirrors in that room to make that possible.

When Emma emerged from the bathroom, clad in a pair of leggings and a tank top underneath yet another knitted sweater, she walked into the kitchen to find Regina sitting on the floor with a blanket around herself and a box of Froot Loops in her hand. Regina looked up to see Emma wearing her sweater and smiled.

“You know, I made that one too.” She said softly. Emma had suspected, but acted surprised and took a moment to truly admire the piece of clothing. It was light blue, a color so unlike Regina, and made from a very soft and fine yarn in the most delicate of patterns.

“It’s warm.” She told Regina, flashing her a smile. “Thank you.”

“Come, sit.” Regina told her, patting the floor next to her.

Emma shook her head. “At least come to the living room. I’m not sitting on the floor.”

Regina frowned, but got up anyway and followed Emma to the living room. They sat onto the couch, an appropriate, chaste distance between the two of them. Silence fell over the room as both women fidgeted with their hands, not knowing what to say.

“Regina…” Emma finally tried, but was interrupted when Regina said:

“I’m so sorry.”

Emma was surprised to say the least. “For what?”

“For telling you to go away. For saying I didn’t know what I wanted. For being stupid and going to Robin and getting myself kidnapped and making you come rescue me and for being so useless.” The words tumbled out of Regina’s mouth without caution, but she believed every word she said.

Emma gaped at the woman. “None of those things are anything you should be apologizing for.”

“But they are.” Regina insisted. “I was stupid. I thought I could ignore whatever this is and be with my soulmate and just be done with it and never think about it again.”

“He’s not your soulmate.” Emma blurted out.

“What?”

“Robin’s not your soulmate.” Emma repeated, watching for Regina's reaction carefully.

“How do you know?”

“Because the Robin you saw when you used that pixie dust - and yes I know about it - isn’t the Robin you met a year ago.” She gave Regina the short version of King Richard’s murder, and by the end she saw that the woman’s eyes were brimming with tears.

“Wait...no, don’t cry. Why are you crying?” Emma said softly, shuffling in closer to wrap her arm around Regina’s shoulder. The woman shook her head and blinked back the tears.

“I...I just feel so stupid.” She muttered. She was angry at herself for crying, for being so weak that she couldn’t even get the words out of her mouth.

“For what?”

“I was so caught up in the idea of a soulmate, so obsessed and determined to love that man, that I ignored _something_ right in front of me.”

There was a long moment of silence.

“Am I that something?” Emma's question was so gentle, so careful, that Regina almost missed it altogether. 

Almost.

“Yes--” Regina stumbled over the word, then froze. She raised her eyes to meet Emma’s, fearing rejection more than ever. But what she saw in those hazel eyes was the exact opposite of rejection.

“But you see it now.” Emma told her, placing a reassuring hand atop Regina’s. “And it’s not like you were the only idiot. I went on and on and _ignored_ the fact that all I really want is to be with you.”

And that was that. Regina sighed, happier than she’d ever been, and and reached over to kiss the woman she now _knew_ she loved. It was tender, it was careful, and it was so soft - she was as afraid of hurting Emma as Emma was of hurting her. She suddenly felt at peace with herself and the world - all she felt she needed was to taste Emma, to feel Emma, to hold Emma - to have her be hers and let herself be Emma’s.

As the kiss deepened, Emma moved on into Regina’s lap. They were upright for just about a second until Regina fell backwards, so that they were laying on the couch with Regina beneath Emma. Their lips never parted; they were too consumed in the kissing to notice anything else.

When they did part, Regina felt like the world was spinning. She was overwhelmed by the feeling of Emma; the lithe blonde's body fit hers perfectly, and the pressing weight of her atop herself felt better than any blanket ever could. Regina found she was struggling to keep her eyes open, and in her drowsiness she opened her mouth and sighed contently.

“I love you.”

The words escaped her mouth as easily as a breath, and she didn’t even realize she had said them until she felt Emma’s pulse race beneath her fingertips. Brown eyes stared into hazel, and the lingering moment was all too long for Regina who only yearned to hear those same three words repeated back to her.

Emma smiled and kissed Regina, her hand cupping that beautiful face ever so gently. She pulled away just an inch or two, and opened her eyes right before she said: “I love you too.”

Regina could feel Emma’s breath on her lips when she said those words, and she took them to her heart. Her chest felt like a balloon about to burst, and she wanted to run outside and scream to the heavens because she was just so happy she didn’t know what to do with herself. But instead, her exhaustion took hold of her, and her head lolled to the side once before she was fast asleep.

Emma grinned happily as she saw that Regina had fallen asleep. She got up off of her as carefully as she could, and then gathered her into her arms before heading upstairs to the bedroom. There, she carefully laid the woman into bed.

She didn’t know how to change people’s clothes with magic. She wished she did. But instead, she had to opt for the traditional way. Luckily, Regina was wearing a tank top underneath her blazer and button up shirt, and so Emma only had to change her pencil skirt into some leggings. She felt awfully intrusive taking off Regina’s skirt while the woman was asleep, but kept telling herself this was nothing but a kindness. She kept repeating it to herself like a mantra, to distance herself even when she was faced with the brief sight of Regina’s bare legs and dark red underwear which made her think of things which were not appropriate for that moment.

Once done, she took off the sweater and settled in beside Regina, pulling the duvet over the both of them. She snuck her hand around the woman’s waist, pulling her closer and spooning her. She breathed in Regina's scent and felt comforted all around, and couldn't help the smile that spread onto her face. Being this close felt good. It felt natural. It felt right. _I love you,_ Emma thought as she laid her head onto the pillow and allowed herself to finally sleep. 

_I really love you._

  



	15. Be Mine

They woke up the next day in a tangled mess of arms and legs. Regina woke up moments before Emma did, but because she had stirred it was only a matter of time before Emma was roused too. It was extremely bright in the room, despite the dark nature of it’s decor, because the sunlight outside seemed to be at it’s brightest. It was way past midday, almost four in the afternoon - they had slept for over twelve hours.

Slowly, Regina untangled herself and turned to face Emma. Everything felt so surreal, so magical, that she simply couldn’t put it to words. She dared not speak, because she feared that the magic of the moment would be broken in that moment and lost forever.

“Good morning.” Emma smiled as she slowly reached up to stretch her sore arms. The words did not break the moment as Regina had feared - instead, they awoke a warmth within her chest and made a happy smile spread onto her face.

“Morning,” She murmured. She suddenly became very aware of the fact that her mouth was very dry, and that her breath smelled. But Emma only chuckled and leaned in to kiss her, with morning breath herself, and it didn’t matter. Her hand came to rest on top of Regina’s hip, and Regina’s hand in turn reached over to pull Emma closer as she opened her mouth to allow Emma’s tongue a tentative taste. A low moan emerged from her throat, and Emma grinned against her lips as she turned Regina onto her back and climbed to lay on top of her, never stopping the kissing. Emma was thoroughly enjoying the reactions even the littlest things created in Regina; in that instant, she had all the power and Regina was all too eager to give it to her. She left Regina’s lips to kiss along her jaw and further down, and when her lips touched Regina’s neck she felt the woman shiver and moan quietly. As her hands slid down to caress Regina’s breasts, she made her way to her ear and nipped at her earlobe.

“You’re beautiful,” she whispered into Regina’s ear, her voice a mere breath. The touch of Emma’s hands and lips made Regina shiver again, and she grabbed Emma by the waist and quickly flipped her over to be on top.

“I know.” She murmured as she bent down to kiss Emma again. Their tongues met, touched, and explored one another, and the wetness and warmth of each other made both women feel intoxicated and as lustful as ever. Regina nipped at Emma’s bottom lip, enjoying the little noises that came from the blonde as her hands ran up and down Emma’s neck and sides.

“I want you closer,” Emma moaned into Regina’s mouth. Her hands were already around Regina’s waist, pulling her as close as they could be, but she wanted more. She _needed_ more.

Regina chuckled and pulled away from the kiss to look at Emma with a smirk on her face. “I don’t think that’s possible.”

Emma groaned and grabbed Regina’s head, pulling her back to the kiss. “I need you closer.”

So Regina pressed onto Emma even harder, leaving no spaces in between their bodies. They devoured one another, pouring all the suppressed feelings and ignored wants into this one moment of pure, unbridled passion.

Emma’s hand tugged at the hem of Regina’s tank top, and the next moment it was gone. Her hands ran along Regina’s smooth skin, cupping and toying with her breasts as her lips kissed at her neck and shoulders. She felt Regina’s hands trying to take off the tank top, but when she failed at doing so Regina simply waved her hand and suddenly all of Emma’s clothes were gone.

“Regina!” She laughed, suddenly feeling slightly shy.

“You’re welcome to say no.” Regina purred, leaning in to kiss Emma gently. Emma giggled as she felt Regina’s hands on her sides, the woman’s hips pressing against her now naked groin.

“I want this.” Emma breathed, looking into those brown eyes with lust and want in her own. “But I think this is only fair.” With the wave of her own hand, Regina’s clothes disappeared also, and she heard a chuckle emerge from the woman’s throat.

“You’re adorable.” Regina murmured as she slid her hand down along Emma’s stomach. Her fingers were gentle, tentative, and teasing - Emma felt as though she might go mad from the sheer lack of intensity which she craved. Regina knew this, and deliberately avoided giving her what she wanted. Toying with people was one of her strong points, after all.

Her hand met short stubble and she raised her eyebrows in question. She wasn’t one to be bothered by hairs on a woman, but this was rough stubble and it was a little weird. Emma noticed Regina’s expression and frowned. “I haven’t had time to shave.” She explained. “I’ve been a little too busy worrying about _you_.”

“No need to explain, dear.” Regina hummed as she slid her hand further down to meet the eager wetness of Emma’s sex. "I'll teach you a spell later. It takes care of it _for you_." Emma jumped slightly as Regina’s hand brushed past her clit, and Regina couldn’t help but grin at the sight of Emma’s wide, lustful eyes. She leaned in and kissed Emma, slipping her tongue in the blonde’s mouth while simultaneously sliding two fingers into the woman. Emma couldn’t help but moan into Regina’s mouth, and she felt the low hum of a chuckle in Regina’s throat in response. As her two fingers worked their magic, her thumb reached up to rub at Emma’s clit. All the while the two of them kept kissing, on the lips and on each other’s necks and shoulders and breasts, everywhere where they just could.

As the noises from Emma became shorter and shorter, Regina noticed her muscles clenching around her fingers and knew she was on the edge. She employed her hip to aid her in the action, grinding on Emma’s hips while her hand kept going in between her legs. Her mouth was on Emma’s breast, kissing and sucking and biting, soliciting delicious sounds from Emma’s mouth.

_Don’t stop._

Regina grinned as she heard Emma’s voice in her head, knowing the blonde was too far in to even properly think let alone speak. Moments later, she felt the orgasm erupt within Emma, and she kept going until the blonde had ridden down her climax. When she finally slid her hand away from Emma’s sex, the blonde looked at her with sheer love in her eyes.

“Holy shit.” She breathed, one hand on her forehead as she breathed heavily and tried to regain her senses. “That wasn’t your first time with a woman, was it?”

Regina chuckled and moved back up to level with Emma. “No.” She tilted her head slightly and smirked at Emma. “Yours?”

Emma laughed and shook her head. “Not at all.” Her hands slid down to Regina’s waist and she looked up at the dark-haired woman. “And now for you.”

The next second, Regina found herself on her back, with Emma’s hands pinning her own hands down on either side of her head. Emma’s mouth was on hers, her tongue in her mouth, and Regina closed her eyes to truly savor the taste and the feel of the moment.

She was surprised when Emma’s hips began slowly moving against hers, grinding against her throbbing sex in an unprecedented and deliciously pleasurable way. She moaned, wanting more, wanting all of it, but Emma did just as she had done moments ago and deliberately teased the woman underneath her. She knew just grinding wasn’t enough to get Regina over the edge, but that it was an effective way to getting her close enough to make her mind melt away.

Regina had never surrendered control in bed before. As the Queen, anyone who she had taken to bed, man or woman, had been her subject and thus hers to command. As the Mayor, the arrangements she had enjoyed had been of the similar power structure; no one had ever dared to try and _pin her down_ and she found that she absolutely loved it. And so she relinquished control eagerly, which in it’s way made her even more turned on and want Emma even more.

Emma took her sweet time kissing and grinding on Regina, enjoying the intense pleasure the grinding created in her own sex, which was very sensitive after the climax moments ago. She enjoyed taunting the woman, teasing her, pushing her towards the edge with the tiniest movements and the deliberate slowness.

She was stopped when Regina pulled away from the kiss, breathing heavily. She looked into those brown eyes and saw how close she was. “Please.” Regina breathed, pleaded, begged Emma. Emma grinned and kissed her again, this time roughly and without holding anything back. When she pulled back, she felt satisfied that she had teased Regina long enough.

“If you so wish, your _Majesty_.” She purred, the syllables rolling off her tongue in the most seductive tone she could muster. Regina felt herself go weak upon hearing those words, and barely noticed that Emma had gotten off of her and moved down towards her hips.

The sudden touch of Emma’s tongue between her thighs caused shivers to run up and down Regina’s spine and she gasped. She could feel her sex pulsating, and moved her now freed hands to grip at Emma’s blond hair as her tongue devoured her weakest place. She was already so close to the edge that she quickly fell into the zone, where the only feeling that mattered was Emma’s tongue on her sex and it’s gloriously pleasant swirls and turns and circles which made her feel like she was on top of the world.

And then she came falling down, hard, and a wave of pleasure ran through every cell in her body. She moaned, gripping at Emma’s hair and curling her toes as she climaxed more intensely than she had ever climaxed in her life. For a moment, it was as though she blacked out. When she came to her senses, Emma’s head was resting on her stomach, her hands on Regina’s hips, a gentle smile on her lips. Regina let go of Emma’s hair and slid her hands to cup Emma’s face. She sat up and pulled Emma up with her, engulfing the woman’s lips with her own, tasting herself in Emma’s mouth. When they parted, she noticed a shy smile on Emma’s lips and chuckled.

“I love you.” She said, feeling the love radiating from her being. She couldn’t remember the last time she had been this happy. She wasn’t even sure if she had _ever_ been this happy in her life.

Emma licked her lips, savoring the taste of Regina in her mouth. “I love you too.” The words were dangerously easy to say. She had _never_ found those words easy, never felt such a need to say them as she did now. The number of people she had loved in her life were rare. And of all the people she could have loved, she had _never_ imagined that the one to steal her heart would be Regina Mills.

They slowly began realizing how hungry and thirsty both of them were, and so they got up and began their morning routines. Regina got to her bathroom first, leaving Emma no choice than to go to Henry’s bathroom instead. She took a quick shower before using her finger to rub some toothpaste on her teeth and tongue to at least freshen her breath up a little bit. She put on the same clothes as what she had worn the night before, deciding to get rid of her bloodstained clothes the moment she found the time.

While waiting for Regina to come out of her bathroom, Emma headed downstairs to check her phone, which she had left in the pocket of her jacket. When she saw she had over twenty missed phone calls from her mother, she panicked, fearing Robin and Hood had come back. She immediately dialled the number, and Snow picked up almost immediately after.

“Where are you!?” Snow barked into the phone. “I’ve been so worried! Don’t you know how to answer a phone?”

Emma sighed in relief when she realised that nothing more had happened than her mysterious disappearance from the Charmings’ home. “I...went for a walk.”

“You said as much...last night.” Snow grumbled. “It’s almost dinner time. Where the hell have you been?”

Emma almost laughed when she heard Snow swear - it was so out of character and strange. “I...needed to think.”

Emma could hear Snow breathing sharply on the other end of the line. “Emma. I called everyone I know. I even called Regina, but she didn’t answer. Be honest.”

“I already told you.”

“Emma...where are you?”

Emma remained silent. She really did not want to lie to her mother. “Does it matter?”

“I’m worried.” Snow replied. “Are you at Regina’s?”

Emma paled. “What makes you think I would?”

“Are you?”

“So what if I am?” Emma retorted, feeling slightly annoyed at the interrogative nature of Snow's questions.

“Nothing.” Snow said, her voice sounding strange. “Are you coming to dinner?”

“I’m not sure.” Emma said. Regina was descending the stairs, clad in only a short silk kimono, and for a moment she forgot how to breathe.

“Emma?”

“What?”

“Are you coming to dinner or not?”

“Um, yeah, sure. What time?”

“Same as always.”

“Which would be…?”

Emma could just imagine her mother rolling her eyes; she could practically hear it over the line. “Seven o’clock.”

“Alright. See you then.”

“Love you.”

Emma hung up the phone and stared into space for a long while. Regina slipped her arms around Emma’s waist from behind and pulled her closer, resting her head on the blonde’s shoulder. “Who was that?”

“My mother.”

“What did she want?”

“She wanted to know where I’d disappeared to.”

“You didn’t tell her?” Regina exclaimed. “Naughty girl.”

“What was I supposed to tell her? That I was coming to her former enemy’s house to declare my undying love for her?”

“I see your point. So what, you just left and came here instead?”

“Yeah.”

“And they didn’t ask anything?”

“I didn’t stop to listen.”

Regina tutted. “So I’m what, your dirty little secret?”

Emma whirled around and looked at Regina with wide eyes. “You’re not.”

“Then what am I?”

“I don’t…” Emma stammered, stumbling to gain some confidence. “I love you and I want you to be mine. Isn’t that enough for now?”

Regina hummed and grabbed Emma’s hips, pushing her gently against the wall as she pressed her lips against the blonde’s mouth. “I’m yours, _Miss Swan._ And you are mine. I think that's more than enough.”  



	16. If Only They Knew

Emma left soon after, leaving Regina to satisfy her hunger with the remaining cereal and a packet of mac & cheese which she had hidden in the back of her cupboard for Henry. She didn’t eat such commodities, but she was too tired to go to the store or even think about cooking. 

Emma was so hungry by the time she reached the house that she could barely walk properly. The two flights of stairs up to the loft seemed like an impossible feat, and it took her an embarrassingly long time to scale them. Once she entered the flat, she was tackled by Snow, who hugged her so tight she couldn’t breathe.

“I was so worried.” The woman muttered, her voice still slightly angry. “You shouldn’t disappear like that.”

“I’m sorry.” Emma said. She wasn't sure if she meant it; she was sorry that Snow was worried, yes, but she wasn't sorry for leaving because it had accomplished her the greatest thing. She took off her jacket and hung it up before heading straight for the dining table. “I’m starving. What’s for dinner?”

“Chicken pot pie.” Snow told her as the rest of her family went to the table and sat down. Baby Neal was laying in his crib, gurgling happily, but otherwise it was oddly quiet. Everyone looked at Emma expectantly, who failed to notice as she was preoccupied by the sight of the food before her.

“What?” Emma asked when she finally noticed.

“Where were you?” Henry asked curiously as he helped himself to some pie.

“I went for a walk.”

“All night?” David asked. 

“Well I wandered around and then went to Regina’s.” Emma said quietly. She waited for more questions, but in their absence she was able to stuff her face with some food and satisfy her growling stomach. “This is delicious, by the way.”

“Why did you go to Regina’s?”

_ There it is. _ The strange tone in Snow’s voice was back again; Emma looked up to see Snow studying her, her brows furrowed in concentration.

“I needed to talk to her.” Emma told her. She was beginning to feel uneasy under Snow’s stare.

“About what?”

“It’s...personal.”

“Emma.” Snow said softly. “Are you okay?”

Emma’s gaze rose up from her food and she stared at the woman in surprise. “Yes. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Have you forgotten about yesterday?”

Suddenly Emma realised that she had completely forgotten about the events of the day before. Everything that had happened before she had gone to Regina’s house had been a haze, because it hadn’t mattered. Nothing was anywhere near as important as everything that had happened after Regina had told her she loved her.

“I-” She stammered. “I went to talk to Regina about it. About my magic. I needed to know I could keep it under control.”

“I see.”

“Can we talk about something else?” Emma then said. “Anything, really. What did you do today?”

“We mainly worried about you.” David told her.

Emma frowned. “Surely you did  _ something. _ Henry?”

Henry started excitedly explaining something about beating a really hard level in a video game, and soon enough there was a heated debate going on between whether or not using a sword or a spear to kill a troll was the most effective way to go. Emma felt relieved to have the attention turned away from her, even though she noticed the careful glances Snow kept throwing her way all throughout the evening.

When dinner was cleared away and David and Henry were busy proving that they were right about the best way to defeat a troll on Henry’s Xbox, Snow asked Emma to come with her. She led Emma to her bedroom, where she promptly told the blonde to sit down next to her on the bed.

“Emma,” She began. “I know something is up.”

Emma furrowed her eyebrows. She hadn’t known she was that obvious. “What do you mean?”

“I know you had...feelings for Hook. And now he’s gone and turned evil, and I’m sure you’re feeling awful-”

Emma couldn’t help the laughter that bubbled in her throat. Snow watched, confused as ever, as Emma practically bent over with laughter. “What?” She asked the blonde, who took a long while to gather herself before she could speak.

“Trust me. I’m more than fine about Hook.” Emma told her.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.” Emma said.  _ If only you knew. _

“And...Emma…”

The strange tone of voice was back again. Emma now recognized the emotion behind it; it was lack of confidence, nerves, and for a moment she feared Snow had something awful to say.

“Yes?” She asked, though her mind was screaming for her to run for the hills. She didn’t need to stay for this, to hear whatever her mother was so afraid of saying.

“What  _ happened _ yesterday?”

Emma gaped at her, not sure what to say. “What do you mean? I told you.”

“You told us that Regina was kidnapped and your magic was taken away and that you fought Robin and Hook and that they disappeared into a portal. You never said where all that blood came from. You never told us what was so bad that you  _ collapsed _ afterwards.”

“I-- I can’t.” Emma stammered. “I just...you don’t need to know. You’re better off not knowing.”

“I’m your  _ mother. _ ”

“Which is exactly why I  _ don’t  _ want you to know.” Emma said, effectively ending the conversation by getting up and walking away. “I’m sorry. I just...I can’t tell you.”

“Where are you going?”

“I’m going to sleep.” Emma told her, pushing herself to smile a little. “Didn’t sleep much last night.”

“Right. Well...good night.” Snow said. Emma left her there, wondering, and headed for the kitchen. She quickly grabbed the box of leftovers from the fridge, along with some other necessities, and shoved them into a bag before quickly skittering up to her bedroom. Once there, she locked the door and apparated to Regina’s door.

Actually, it was more like she apparated _into_ Regina's door. She landed a couple of feet from Regina’s door, and stumbled into it, causing an entirely too loud noise for the quiet evening. Regina scrambled to her door, wondering what the noise was, and opened the door quickly to allow one bumbling blonde to fall inside as she had been leaning against the door. Emma stumbled into Regina and almost caused them both to fall, but managed to catch hold of the doorframe before it happened.

“Emma.” Regina breathed, staring at the woman in confusion. Her hand was wrapped around the blonde's waist, and she was all too pleased by her sudden appearance. “What a...surprise.”

“Sorry.” Emma muttered as she pushed the two of them inside and shut the door behind herself. “I tripped.”

“I can see that.” Regina’s eyes darted to the bag of food in Emma’s hands. “What is that?”

“I brought you leftovers. Figured you’d be hungry.”

“I’ve eaten more junk food today than I have in my entire life.” Regina grumbled, soliciting a cheery laugh from Emma. “Aren’t your parents going to be suspicious that you’re here again?”

Emma’s face fell, and Regina realised the blonde had snuck out - again. “You’re like a rebellious teenager, sneaking out like that.” She tutted, grabbing Emma’s hand and leading her to the kitchen. “I feel like I’m corrupting you.”

“You’re not.”

“Are you sure,  _ Miss Swan _ ?” Regina purred, pushing Emma against a cabinet with a twinkle in her eye. “Absolutely sure?”

Emma bit her lip and caught her breath, very aware of the gentle throb that spread through her abdomen. “Maybe I’m corrupting you.”

“Corrupting me? Darling, please.” Regina laughed. She reached behind Emma’s head and pulled out a plate. “I’m already corrupt. I’m the Evil Queen, aren’t I?”

Regina was only joking. Emma, however, did not catch that, and shook her head vigorously. “You’re not the Evil Queen, Regina. Not anymore. You’re not evil at all.”

Regina stopped what she was doing and looked at Emma. She had heard those words many times from Emma before, and had slowly grown to believe them and dropped the E-word from her title. Even so, the insistence with which Emma told her that she was no longer the Evil Queen astonished her to the point where she feared she might just break down and cry. Whereas Emma’s destructive words were about loneliness and having no one, Regina’s were about being evil. She couldn’t count the times she had laid in bed at night, quietly sobbing into her pillow whilst the words ‘ _ I am the Evil Queen. I am a villain. I deserve no happy ending.’  _ repeated inside her head.

“I was just joking.” She said softly. Emma stared at her for awhile before speaking again.

“Are you sure? Because…” She paused. The microwave dinged to signal Regina’s food was ready, and the sound of that broke the silence. 

“Because what?”

“I...I think you still believe you’re a villain.”

Regina stopped everything she was doing. She knew Emma was right, and knew that Emma knew as much as well. “How could I not?” She heard herself saying. “All I’ve ever done is evil. I can’t escape it, even when I try - it’s who I am.”

“No, it isnt.” Emma’s voice was wary, almost slightly afraid. “You know it isn’t.”

“I cast this curse. It’s  _ my  _ fault that you were an orphan. It’s my fault that you spent 28 years not knowing who your parents were. I’ve taken countless hearts and lives and I used to not care, but now I do and it eats me up inside! I just-- I just can’t be good, not with what I’ve done.” Regina was entirely surprised by her own outburst, having not known she felt this way.  _Guess this is what you get when you build up a wall and have it bombarded down by a blonde idiot,_ she thought to herself.  _Should've built more walls._

“Yes, you can.” Emma told her. “You have to.”

“Why do I have to?”

“Because if you can live with what you’ve done, I can live with what I’ve done.”

There was a long pause, during which Regina tried to process what Emma had just said. She had forgotten all about the events of the day before. She had forgotten about the absolute massacre Emma had committed all by herself.

Clearly, Emma hadn’t. And Regina knew she wouldn’t. She herself hadn’t forgotten the first time she had killed, the first time she had single-handedly ended a life. She hadn’t let herself forget.

She knew how hard it had been for herself. 

She realised how hard it must be for Emma, how much worse it as for her because she was and always had been on the Good side and never once done anything close to as evil as what Regina had done in her past.

She set down her plate, ignoring the grumble of her stomach, and walked over to Emma. The blonde was trembling, her arms wrapped around herself, and she was chewing her lip distractedly. 

“Let’s go sit down.” Regina said quietly, taking Emma’s hand and pulling her along through to the living room. She sat down onto the couch and guided Emma to lay down so that her head rested in Regina’s lap. She pulled a blanket over the blonde, making sure she wasn’t cold or uncomfortable. Her fingers laced through Emma’s hair, stroking her hair and head gently, and slowly she saw Emma’s eyes flutter shut. A relaxed sigh escaped the blonde’s mouth, and for a moment they were just quiet and comfortable.

“Tell me what you did. All of it. Every detail.” Regina asked of Emma. She felt the blonde tense up, and looked down to see hazel eyes staring up at her full of fear and confusion.

“I can’t.”

“You can. Tell me what happened.”

And so, quietly, Emma began recounting the fight. Regina listened intently, asking Emma to elaborate on certain sounds or movements, knowing it made the blonde uncomfortable. Emma’s eyes were closed, but every now and then a tear would push through and trickled down her cheek and into her hair. Regina knew she was causing Emma pain and sorrow by asking her to think back, but she knew it was for the best.

Once Emma had finished, every single horrific and gruesome detail explained, she felt like she had run a marathon. Her heart was racing, her pulse was so loud in her ears she almost couldn’t hear anything else. She felt nauseous and dizzy, and was glad that she was already laying down because otherwise she would have fainted.

“Why did you ask me to do this?” She asked.

Regina placed a gentle hand on Emma’s jaw, her thumb drawing circles on her cheek. “Because you have to remember.”

“I don’t want to.”

“You’ve taken lives, Emma. Lives of people you never even knew. They might have had families, friends - but you’ll never know. All you do know that they died by your hand. And I know it’s painful, but you have to remember them - because once they stop mattering you’ve gone evil. The moment when you become a villain.”

Emma’s eyes burst open and she stared up at Regina. “Do you remember yours?”

"My what?"

Emma hesitated. "Victims."

Regina shook her head. “There was a long time when who I killed didn’t matter. I told you, Emma. I was a villain. Maybe I’m not one anymore, but I definitely was one once upon a time. But I do remember my first. I have to remember my first.”

“Tell me.”

Regina laced her fingers through Emma’s hair and leaned her head back. She recalled that day from years before as though it were yesterday.

“You know that I was Rumplestiltskin’s apprentice.” She began softly, leaning over Emma as though she were telling a bedtime story. “Well, I once decided I did not want his teachings - that I could not do dark magic as he wanted me to. He had asked me to take out and crush the heart of this beautiful black unicorn, you see - and I couldn’t do it. So while I was gone, he got another apprentice - I believe her name was Trish - but she was nowhere near my level. I didn’t trust him, because I thought he was keeping the key to Daniel’s savior from me. When my plan to resurrect Daniel failed, something just...snapped in my head. I went back to Rumplestiltskin, and when I saw he had replaced me I got angry. And I knew I needed to prove myself somehow. I don’t think I really wanted to kill her. But I put my hand into her chest and took out her heart, and crushed it in my hand. At least from what I saw, her death was quick and merciful.” She breathed heavily, recalling the nauseating panic which had risen in her gut when she had seen the girl dead. “I think Rumplestiltskin planned it that way. I think he knew I’d do it.”

She felt Emma’s hand take hers, and looked down to see the blonde smiling at her gently. “Thank you.”

Regina was perplexed beyond notion. She had just recounted the tale of her first murder, and instead of being disgusted or judging her, Emma was simply smiling at her. She accepted her as she was, bad and good alike, and it scared Regina because she had never felt accepted before.

“For what?”

“For showing me that I can do this.”

Regina remained confused, and so Emma sat up and leaned across her lap against the arm of the couch. “I mean that I can live with this...thing. That I won’t feel like fainting for the rest of my life.” 

“So you do admit you fainted.”

“I did  _ not  _ faint.”

Regina smiled gently and reached over to tuck a stray strand of blonde hair behind Emma’s ear. Her hand remained to gently cup Emma’s cheek, who leaned into her hand slightly. “You were a hero.”

“I just...don’t understand how I knew how to do all...that.” Emma mumbled. “It was like I wasn’t really there.”

“Maybe you weren’t.”

“What do you mean?”

“We made a deal with the Morrígan _. _ Perhaps that was the fight she was talking about.”

Emma stared into space for a while, then nodded. “That may be.”

“Come here.” Regina said.

“Why?”

“I want to kiss you.”

And she did, carefully and tenderly and so lovingly her heart ached. They parted and laid back, both of them speechless.

“Regina?” 

“Hm?”

“You need to eat.”

Regina turned to look at Emma and smirked suggestively. “Right.”

“No, I’m serious.”

“Why?”

Emma rolled her eyes and got up, offering Regina her hand. “Because when I was laying down I could hear your stomach grumbling.” 

* * *

The pot pie had to be re-heated, and after devouring the delicious meal Regina felt fully satisfied. Emma had made herself a cup of tea, having managed to find the only mug in Regina’s cupboard which wasn’t expensive fancy china. It was a plain dollar-store mug which Henry had decorated as a kindergarten project years before. It was filled with different-colored handprints, so tiny now in comparison to the nearly full-grown teenage boys’ hands. There was also writing; the word ‘mommy’ had been written out in large, clumsy letters.

That evening they spent sitting on the couch, watching tv shows neither of them really paid attention to because they were too enamoured by one another. They were warm and comfortable and relaxed, and neither of them had a worry in the world. Everything was perfect.

When the evening turned over into night and both of them began feeling drowsy, Emma assumed she was going to sleep over again. Regina, however, knew that being gone for two nights in a row would certainly be noticed by the Charmings, and so, with a sweet good night kiss, Emma apparated back to the loft. She climbed into her bed, refusing to change, because Regina's scent lingered on her clothes and she wanted at least that to accompany her amidst the possibility of nightmares.

She wished she could stay over at Regina's every night. She wished she could come and go as she pleased, without having to hide where she was going. She hated feeling like something in what she and Regina shared was inherently wrong.

If only they knew.


	17. Catching Dreams

Snow and David stood over Emma’s sleeping body, watching her quietly. They were worried; more worried than they had been in a while, and it was all because they did not know what had happened to their daughter. She did not appear hurt, and the wounds she had sustained weeks before in the Enchanted Forest were all but healed. But she acted like she was wounded, in some way or form, and they had to know what had hurt her so bad she couldn’t even speak of it.

_ You’re better off not knowing. _ After Emma had stormed off to her bedroom, Snow had gone to David and told him everything Emma had said. They had both agreed that something was definitely wrong, and what Emma had said hurt them both tremendously. Once they had noticed that Emma had once again snuck(or poofed) out, they decided to go talk to the one person they thought would know what was going on.

Gold had offered them one option, and one option only. They would look at Emma’s memories from the day before, using the same method which Emma had used once to look at Pongo’s memories. They now stood in Emma’s bedroom, all three of them, and waited for Gold to start.

He had come with them almost immediately, and demanded no favors in return. They had, however, found that Emma was still gone, and spent the next few hours waiting for her to reappear. All they heard was the creak of the floorboards and they knew Emma was back. The time was half past eleven, and she had been gone for four hours. 

Soon enough, when it seemed that she was fast asleep, they made their way to her room.

“I’m not sure I like this, David.” Snow whispered to her husband. “We’re intruding.”

“I know. But there’s something wrong. We can help her.”

Snow chewed her lip and nodded at Gold, who proceeded to cast the spell. The dreamcatcher in his hands glowed light yellow, and the Charmings leaned in closer to see better.

They watched Emma leave an unconscious Regina in a cave, noticing the gentle touch of her hand on Regina’s cheek and the quiet apology the blonde had said before she had left. They saw Emma walk down main street, towards a group of men, amongst whom stood Robin and Hook. There was a lengthy exchange, and when it ended, they saw the soldiers and goblins and trolls run at Emma. Snow caught her breath unintentionally, and had to cover her mouth as she watched the massacre from Emma’s perspective. They now understood why Emma had said what she had said.

But the memory did not end there. Next, they saw Emma walk over to the King and Hook, two bloody swords in her hands. She spoke to him, and they could see the pure fear gleaming in all of the men’s eyes as Emma approached. And then there was a cloud of purple smoke beside the blonde, and Regina emerged.

_ “You’re still no match for me, not without your magic.” _

_ “Well let’s even the scales, then.” _

All three onlookers’ eyes widened in surprise when they saw Regina grab Emma and kiss her square on the mouth. They were even more surprised when a glimmer, an explosion of light emerged from the pair. They proceeded to watch as the portal opened and Hook and Robin disappeared into it. 

Then they saw Emma cast a spell. Though neither Snow nor David understood much of what they saw, Gold certainly did. Anger and confusion boiled up inside him, and he dropped the dreamcatcher, deciding they had seen enough.

David looked at Emma, then at Snow, completely dumbfounded by what he had just seen.

“Oh, David…” Snow sighed. She didn’t know what to think. Her daughter, her  _ baby _ , had turned into a killing machine and had her true love’s kiss all in the same day. It was no wonder, really, that she hadn’t wanted to talk about it.

“I-- I can’t…” David stammered. “Regina?”

They were interrupted by Gold. He seemed to be seething with anger, and he proceeded to shake Emma awake. Emma shrieked when she saw Gold, looking like he was about to murder her, and scrambled away from him so quickly that she hit her head against the wall. Pain flashed through her mind, and in her panicking state she thought of Regina for just a fleeting moment.

Seconds later, there was a cloud of purple smoke and Regina emerged. She immediately grabbed Gold and threw him away from Emma into the wall with so much force that a painting fell to the ground. 

“Don’t you dare touch her.” She snarled, stepping to stand so that she was in between Gold and Emma. Emma was backed up against the wall, holding the back her head, her eyes wide and brows furrowed in confusion.

Gold stood up and glared at Regina. “What did you do?” His voice was shaking with anger, and Regina was slightly taken aback, though she did not show it outwardly.

“What do you mean?”

“She stopped time.” He snarled, pointing his finger at Emma. “And stopping time should be impossible. What did you do? ”

“What did _we_ do? What were  _ you _ doing?” Regina retorted. “Did you look into her memories?” Her eyes darted from Gold to the Charmings, who were standing further away with terrified looks on their faces. “Did you?” She repeated, looking at Snow. The woman’s lip quivered, and she nodded slightly.

“You did what!?” Emma cried from her bed, scrambling to stand beside Regina. “How--how could you?”

“Emma.” Snow said, her voice breaking. “You weren’t telling us anything. We were worried.”

“I told you what you needed to know!” Emma yelled. Regina could feel the anger radiating from her. She wasn’t sure what an outburst of emotion would mean with her newfound, intense magical powers, but she wasn’t about to find out. She reached and took Emma's hand in hers, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

“How about we all calm down and talk like grownups?” She said in a loud voice. The room fell silent, and she looked at everyone before speaking.

“You looked at her memories, without her consent. She’s right to be angry.” She told the Charmings, her voice cold and distant.

“We were right to be worried.” David retorted.

“How much did you see?” Emma’s voice was quiet now, almost weak.

“We saw...well...the fight. We saw everything up to that spell which seems to piss off Gold so much.” David told her. Both Emma’s and Regina’s eyes grew wide, and they glanced at each other.

_ They saw us _ .

“Which brings us back to my question.” Gold grumbled. “What the  _ hell _ have you done to gain such powers? How did you know to come here?”

Regina smirked at Gold. “What was the one thing you forbade me from ever doing?”

Gold paled. “You didn’t.”

“Oh, I most certainly did.” Regina snickered. She was enjoying this; knowing something which Rumplestiltskin didn’t was a rare occasion, and she was going to savor it. 

“Why?”

“We had to get back home. It was the only way to pass through the Netherworld safely.” Regina told him.

“How are you still  _ alive? _ ” Gold asked her. “It has only ever destroyed people. The blood bond is a curse, the worst of them all.”

“That’s where you’re wrong, dear.” Regina chuckled. She felt Emma’s hand reach for hers, and relished the gentle touch. “It’s a blessing. You won’t find anything about it in your books; we already tried. You’re right; most people who attempt are indeed destroyed. But we weren’t.”

She then smirked knowingly at Gold. “I know you can feel the power. It’s electric, isn’t it?”

Gold only glared in response. “You’ve made a mistake. Both of you.”

“It’s too late now, dear. And I don’t think it was a mistake. We’re stronger than you.”

“Oh, really?”

“Can  _ you  _ stop time?” Emma interjected.

Gold huffed and waved his hand, disappearing altogether and leaving Regina and Emma alone with Emma’s parents. They were still holding hands; they didn’t notice they were until Snow’s eyes stared at their interlocked hands and they noticed her look. Emma withdrew her hand and blushed, leaving Regina feeling unprotected and vulnerable.

“So…” Snow began, her eyes darting between Emma and Regina. “That happened.”

Regina didn’t move, didn’t speak - not aloud, anyway.

**_I think I should leave. You clearly have a talk coming and I was about to go to sleep._ **

_ I don’t want you to go. _

**_It’ll be fine._ **

_ What if it isn’t? _

**_Then you come over and I’ll be ready with enough whiskey to knock out a troll._ **

_ Fine. But I’m holding you to that promise. _

**_Wouldn’t expect anything less._ **

Regina then disappeared in a puff of smoke, surprising both David and Snow.

“Where’d she go?”

“She had something in the oven.” Emma explained. Both her parents raised their eyebrows, but then David’s eyes opened in realisation.

“Right, the telepathy thing.”

“Telepathy?” Snow exclaimed, looking at David. “And you didn’t tell me?”

“I forgot! I was distracted by the sudden attack of  _ trolls _ , mind you.”

Emma watched them in astonishment. For all she knew, it was as though none of what had just happened mattered to her parents. But then they calmed down and came to sit beside her on the bed, the strangest look in their eyes.

“We’re so sorry we looked at your memories. We...we had to know.”

“I didn’t want you to know.” Emma muttered. She was still angry, but her anger paled in the face of the fear she felt in the bottom of her gut. She knew her parents had seen Regina kiss her. She knew they had seen it had been a true love’s kiss. And she had no idea how her relatively conservative parents would react to that.

“So...you and Regina.” Snow started, as though she had read Emma’s mind.

“Mom, Dad...I should’ve told you this earlier but...I’m bisexual.” Emma decided to start with the basics; first coming out, then talking about her love for their former enemy.

Snow and David both looked confused. “What?”

“I’m bisexual.”

“Yes, dear, we heard you...but what does that mean?”

“I’m attracted to both men and women.”

“There’s a word for that?” David blurted, looking surprised. 

Emma, in turn, was at least equally as surprised. “Of course there is. There are so many different identities-”

“Identities?” Snow asked. Emma looked at the both of them, utterly shocked at their apparent obliviousness. “What do you mean identities?”

“Like...heterosexuality and homosexuality.” Emma stammered. “Do you really not know about them?”

“What do they mean?”

“Does same-sex attraction not exist in the Enchanted Forest?” Emma blurted out.

“You mean like...women loving women?” Snow asked.

“Yes.”

“Of course it does. But we don’t put labels on it. You just...you fall in love with whoever you happen to fall in love with. No need for labeling.”

“So you’re just...okay with this?”

“No, of course not.” David said, causing panic to rise in Emma’s chest. She wanted to run, but David chuckled and continued. “I think this is the most ironic thing the universe has yet to throw at us. Our daughter, loving the woman who tried to ruin our lives more times than I can remember.”

“So you’re fine with me and Regina?”

“Of course we are, Emma. Why wouldn’t we be?”

Emma’s mind ran through every single time she had come across people who hadn’t been fine with who she was. Every single snide remark, sideways glare, every single homophobic comment and threat ran through her mind, suddenly completely arbitrary and meaningless. She felt like she was going to cry, and Snow noticed that and wrapped her arms around Emma. “You’re going to have to explain these identities to me, though. I’m curious.”

Emma nodded against her shoulder and laughed through her tears. It was just so surreal. She was in love with Regina Mills, the once Evil Queen, and her parents knew and accepted her and her love. She couldn’t have been happier even if she tried.

After a while, she was able to pull away from Snow and wipe away the tears. She looked at her parents, who were beaming at her and automatically furrowed her brows.

“What?”

“We’re just so happy for you.” David told her. “You had your true love’s kiss.”

“And it doesn’t matter if it’s Regina, although the irony doesn’t escape me.” Snow smiled. “Besides, it’ll be great for Henry.”

_ Henry _ . Emma realised with a start that she would have to tell her son that his mothers were, well, in love. Maybe dating. She had to ask Regina about that when she saw her again.

“I don’t know what to say.”

“When did it start?”

“What?”

“You two.”

“Um…” Emma thought back. “I mean...we only admitted the feelings for one another a few days ago, and I’d known about them for quite some time.”

_ I guess it started with the first time I saw her and felt my heart leap to my throat. _ But she didn’t say that. That was for her and her only to know - and maybe Regina.

“So that’s where you disappeared to?”

Emma nodded shyly.

“And you were gone all night?”

Her eyes widened as she felt her face grow hot. David and Snow both looked slightly uncomfortable.

“Maybe we don’t share  _ everything _ .” Emma suggested.

“But she makes you happy?” David asked. “I’ll have to have a talk with her, of course - nobody messes with my girl’s heart, not even the Queen.”

Emma chuckled. “Yes, she makes me happy. So happy.”

“I’m glad.” Snow sighed.

“Um...would it be okay if I left now?”

“Where to?”

Emma just stared at her. “Really? You have to ask?”

Snow and David nodded understandingly. Emma stood up to leave, but she was stopped briefly by David.

“Be back before breakfast, though. You don’t want Henry wondering where you’re disappearing to at night.”

Emma nodded and then disappeared in a cloud of silvery smoke, appearing in Regina’s kitchen. She found the woman in her study, where she was seated in a comfortable armchair with a glass of hard cider in her hand and another waiting on the table.

“Well? How was it?” She asked. “Did the Charmings berate you for your scandalous love affair?”

Emma rolled her eyes and slumped into the armchair next to Regina’s. “No. They...they’re happy for me. For us.”

“Of course they were. They’re so sickeningly kind, it’s essentially inbuilt in their DNA to accept everyone and everything.”

Emma took a long sip from the glass and sighed. “Is it true that you have no concept of sexuality in the Enchanted Forest?”

“I haven’t got a clue what you mean.”

“I mean...you just love who you love? No matter whether they’re a woman or a man or something in between?”

“Well...yes.” Regina answered, eyeing Emma carefully. “I take it that’s not how things work here?”

Emma shook her head. “I was expecting them to be disgusted or something, or to not know what bi even meant-”

“Bi?”

“Bisexual.”

Regina just raised her eyebrows, not recognizing the term. Emma rolled her eyes and couldn’t help chuckling in disbelief. “I cannot believe you lived here for 28 years and never once heard about sexualities. Do you even know what LGBT is?”

“Isn’t that a sandwich?”

“No, you're thinking of a BLT.” Emma told her. “LGBT stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual - that’s me - and Transgender.”

“I feel like I’m getting a lecture.”

“Okay, I’ll keep it simple. Gay means you are only attracted to people of the same gender as you. Lesbian is a term for women who love women - don’t ask me why there’s a special term for that, I don’t really know. Transgender means that you identify with another gender than what you were assigned at birth - you may have been raised a girl even though you’re actually a boy.”

“Interesting how you people feel the need to label all of these things. And what of bisexual? You said that’s what you are?”

“Bi means that you are attracted to both men and women, or, well - two genders of any kind. There are more terms, but those are the basics - I feel like you’ll fall asleep if I keep going.” Emma smirked at Regina.

“Dear, I could listen to you speak for an eternity.”

Emma stared at Regina for a long while. At first, Regina thought she was just looking for something to say. When minutes passed, she became slightly impatient, and finally turned to face Emma.

“What are you thinking about?”

“Kissing you.”

Regina rolled her eyes. “Why just think?”

“Because I’m so comfortable I don’t want to get up.” Emma hummed. Regina noticed the glass of cider was long gone, and the refill as well. She laughed softly and got up, feeling slightly woozy herself, and walked over to Emma.

“Come on.”

“Where are we going?”

“To bed.”

“Why?”

“Because I want you out of those clothes.”

“I don’t think we need the bed to do that.” Emma smirked as she stood up. She grinned and snaked her hand around Regina’s waist, pulling the woman in for a passionate kiss. Her mouth tasted like cider, Regina noted, and it made her feel even drunker than she really was. Compared to before, this was somehow rougher, more demanding - Emma’s grip of Regina’s waist was tight but not too tight, and the manner with which her lips were moving against Regina’s was hungry and demanding in a way which made Regina go weak.

Emma picked up Regina, her hands on her ass and thighs, and suddenly Regina felt her back hit the wall. She wrapped her legs around Emma’s waist as she threw her arms around the blonde’s neck and dipped her tongue into her mouth, secretly enjoying the possessiveness which seemed to have overtaken Emma.

She felt Emma’s hands leave her thighs, but she was pinned against the wall so tightly that she didn’t fall. She felt the buttons of her pajama shirt being unbuttoned quickly, and then Emma’s mouth left hers to start kissing and sucking on her neck. Regina couldn’t help the moan which emerged from her throat, and she heard a gentle chuckle from Emma.

Emma moved them over to the desk, where she laid Regina down on her back, leaning over her all the while continuing to kiss her everywhere she could. Regina’s hands slipped the shirt off of Emma with ease, and the tank top followed suit. Emma was now completely topless, and Regina was thoroughly enjoying the sight before her.

She felt Emma’s hand find it’s way between her thighs, and gasped as Emma proceeded to press and rub her on top of her clothes. Emma laughed again, enjoying the ease with which she was controlling Regina, and slipped the pajama shorts off of Regina altogether. She was pleasantly surprised that the woman had gone commando.

Regina felt Emma’s strong hands grab her waist and pull her further towards the edge of the desk. She watched lustfully as Emma kneeled down between her thighs and dipped her head to touch her tongue against Regina’s sex for the second time that day.

The whole scene aroused her tremendously; seeing the study door was wide open, Regina couldn’t help but think of the sight any possible passerby would be privy to - the Mayor, laying on her desk, completely nude, with the Savior in between her legs with her mouth working wonders. The dirty nature of that vision, which Regina could easily picture in her head, caused her pulse to race.

Emma loved the way Regina tasted. She loved the way she could make Regina quiver with the slightest movements, the way she could feel the woman’s muscles clench around her fingers as she sucked on her clit. The sighs and moans and little whimpers which Regina was trying so hard to muffle(and failing adorably) enticed Emma, aroused her and made her work twice as hard to make the woman before feel as good as she could.

“Holy shit, Emma-” Regina gasped as Emma yet again pressed on the spot inside her which made her see stars. The blonde had kept her on the edge for far too long, changing direction or pace just when Regina was about to climax, dropping her a ways back only to build her back up again. It was driving her crazy, the constant, unrelieved state of arousal, but she could not move away. She wanted Emma, she wanted everything from her, and she wanted to come.

“Please…” She whispered. Emma only grinned and kept going, deciding to finally oblige and allow Regina to finish. She pressed her fingers into her deeper, and kept going until she heard the woman gasp and felt her entire body shake as the orgasm made it’s way through her body. She didn’t stop, however, until Regina grabbed her head and pulled her away.

Regina was seeing stars. Having been denied for so long, and finally getting what she wanted had driven her to the brink of insanity. She was breathing heavily, looking up at Emma, who was laying on top of her with a self-assured smirk on her face.

“I love you.” She breathed, reaching to grab Emma’s neck and pulling her in for a kiss. While the blonde was distracted, Regina waved her hand and suddenly they were on the floor. Regina was on her back, and Emma was kneeling above her face. The blonde made a tiny noise in surprise, but didn’t move away as Regina wrapped her hands around Emma’s thighs and pulled her in to get a proper taste of the Savior.

The position got Emma so excited she found herself on the edge of orgasm far quicker than she thought possible. The sight of Regina beneath her, the woman’s mouth on her sex, drove her wild - and of course, it helped that Regina’s tongue was dancing on her vulva and that those long, slender fingers were moving inside her. She had always had a knack for taking control, but had never had the courage or passion to truly take it. But Regina was all too willing to  _ give _ Emma the control, even when she was the one being pleasured.

Without even thinking, Emma began moving her hips against Regina’s tongue, and bit her lip to stop the continuous moans which were trying to make their way out of her mouth. With one hand, she was holding Regina’s hair, and the other she raised to hold her own breast.

The sight before Regina was all too beautiful. Emma was completely naked, her eye’s closed and her mouth slightly parted as Regina’s tongue kept on swirling on the spot which made the blonde’s thighs shiver. She saw Emma bite her lip and knew the woman was close to climaxing. As if to take revenge on her ‘torment’ moments ago, she moved her mouth away from Emma’s sex to kiss on her thighs and anywhere but where Emma wanted her. Emma whimpered as she was left hanging, and looked down at Regina with a glare. Regina only smirked, but this gave Emma an idea. With her hand, she pushed Regina’s mouth back to where she wanted it, and was all too pleased to see an aroused shiver run down Regina’s spine when she did.

Regina couldn’t deny that being pushed back down to continue licking Emma’s sex didn’t turn her on immensely. She would have never thought that she would enjoy being pinned down and told what to do during sex, but here she was, doing exactly what Emma wanted and thoroughly enjoying every second of it. This woman, this idiot, was driving her crazy in all the possible ways and she couldn’t help herself. She loved it.

Emma climaxed almost silently, sighing deeply as she finally let go of the tension and allowed the immense pleasure spread through her body. She sat back against Regina’s chest and ran her finger along the woman’s jaw, admiring her every shape and curve. 

“You’re beautiful,” She whispered as she slowly got up and off of Regina. She offered Regina her hand and helped her up, taking the opportunity to pull her in for a passionate, slow kiss.

They stood there, stark naked in Regina’s study, fully aware that anyone who passed Regina’s gate would be able to see them. But it was late, and it was unlikely that anyone would be walking around at that time.

And even if they did, neither of the two women really cared enough about anything in that moment. 

“I love you.” Regina whispered, leaning her forehead against Emma’s. “I really do.”

“And I really love you.”


	18. Date Night

A few weeks passed, and the whole mess with Robin and Hook was all but forgotten. Emma and Regina, along with some of the townspeople, had thought up a plan in case they did return. However, not knowing what the King’s plan had been, they had very little to go on.

Gold was incredibly sour at the two of them for what they had done. For the first week or so, he had refused to even look in Regina’s direction. However, as time passed and he came to realise that he truly had no idea of what or how Regina had accomplished the feat, he began employing other people to try and pry the information out of Emma and Regina. The pair knew this, and had an exquisite amount of fun by telling Gold’s ‘spies’ all sorts of wrong information ranging from ‘I made a deal with Obi Wan Kenobi’ to ‘I can bring back the dead’.

He had, with time, calmed down and finally been civil enough to sit down with Regina to talk. Regina had given him bits and pieces, and emphasised the fact that the two of them were now infinitely more powerful than Gold. Knowing this made him feel insecure for the first time in centuries, and Regina also knew this and relished the thought.

The two of them had enjoyed their company as much as they could in the past weeks. Having noticed that their bond caused them to feel physically sick if they went too far from one another, they had unintentionally begun avoiding just that. Of course, both women had a need for alone time and space, but that didn’t mean they had to be a world apart. Often Emma would go out for a run on the beach, or Regina would take her car and head up to the hills to watch the town from above. Besides, Storybrooke was small enough that only by being at the far ends of the town did they actually feel nauseous enough to be uncomfortable.

Being together made them feel electric. Their magic was stronger than ever - Emma was stronger than Regina, but even Regina found that her abilities had increased tremendously. She could now achieve feats she had previously thought only possible for the Dark One without even thinking twice. Emma, still afraid of her power, was slowly learning through gentle, careful guidance from Regina. All she had wanted to learn was to control her power, but once she had tried her hand at magic for real, she was hooked. They kept each other grounded, not allowing each other to go too far or to become too zealous with their spells.

That evening was date night. Emma had insisted on still living with her parents at least until they had been together for a month, though living with her parents and a tiny baby and Henry was becoming more and more displeasing when compared to the alternative. Henry had been alternating between Emma’s and Regina’s, but every other Saturday night he was at a sleepover, giving his moms time for a proper date.

That night, they were on a romantic evening walk along the beach, having had a wonderful dinner at a tiny seaside restaurant by the docks. Emma had her hand around Regina’s waist, who was struggling to walk on the sand in her stiletto heels.

“You knew we were going for a walk.” Emma chuckled as Regina cursed at the sand yet again. “Could have chosen more appropriate footwear.”

Regina looked at her incredulously. “I’m sorry, did you not notice how great I look in these?”

Emma smiled. “That’s not what I meant.”

It was late summer, and the night was still young and the air was warm. Regina sighed and gave up on her heels, slipping them off of her feet and picking them up in one hand. She was wearing a sleek red skirt and a white blouse, and on her shoulders hung a blazer - after all, she was always prepared for a little chill. Emma wore slacks with black boots and a sleeveless button-up, her hair up in a ponytail. Regina had insisted on doing Emma’s makeup for her, and so she was wearing an all too un-Emma-like bright shade of red lipstick. Regina thought it looked good - and, secretly, Emma thought so too.

That didn’t stop her from making pouty faces and grumbling, because she knew Regina thought it was adorable.

They stopped at a bench and sat down to watch as the sun set, coloring the sky a million shades of red, purple, pink and gold. The sea was calm; they could hear the soft sounds of the waves breaking against the beach, time after time, each time softer than the last. Further out at sea, they could see the lights of fishing-boats and sailing boats - it was a wonderful evening for sailing.

A couple of townspeople passed behind them along the walkway which followed along the beach. Upon seeing the pair, they smiled gently, for everyone in town knew and had grown to love the Mayor and Savior couple. Snow had promptly snuffed out anyone who had objected to Emma’s and Regina’s relationship, and no one in town dared to anger Snow. But they had no need to - being with Emma had made Regina much more agreeable, and no one could deny how much happier Emma was with the Queen.

“Regina?”

“Yes?”

“I just...I like this.”

Regina turned her head on Emma’s shoulder to see her face. “You like this?”

“Yeah.”

“How romantic.” She scoffed, a gentle smile on her lips. Emma rolled her eyes and continued to stare at the sea.

“You know I’m not one for words.”

“I do.”

Silence fell upon them, and all was well in the world.

But, because this is Storybrooke, nothing is ever calm. The next second there was a great big green flash across the horizon, and it was as though the world had been devoured of all it’s light. The sun was gone beyond the horizon, the lights from the ships swallowed by the sudden darkness which seemed to be racing towards them from the sea. Amidst the darkness they saw shadows; as they came closer, they realised they were ships, a whole fleet of them.

“Gina?” Emma asked, her voice wavering slightly. “What the hell is that?”

Regina narrowed her eyes and sat up. “I think your beloved pirate is back.”

Emma swatted Regina’s shoulder gently and frowned. “He’s not my beloved pirate.”

“I was just joking.”

“We might be dying in a second.”

“You know we won’t.”

“Shouldn’t we do something?”

Regina stood slowly, a wide, devilish grin spread on her face. There was a twinkle in her eye which reminded Emma of the Evil Queen, and she turned to look at the fast approaching ships.

“Why would Robin come back using ships?” She wondered aloud. “Seems an awfully inconvenient way to arrive. Everyone can see you.”

“Always pointing out the obvious, you are.” Regina chuckled.

“I think our date is ruined.”

“Are you kidding?” Regina asked, turning to look at Emma with excitement buzzing in her ears. “This is going to be so much fun.”

Emma couldn’t help but smile at Regina; the woman was acting like a little child on Christmas morning. She turned to face the town and looked up and down the beach. With no one in sight, she spread her hands and concentrated, casting the strongest protection spell she could muster. She would be damned if she let the King’s men run into her town. After all, she was the Sheriff.

The ships suddenly dissipated once they came to the shallows, melting into an endless line of men and soldiers, all coming at them at alarming speeds. Most of what Emma could see were men; but amongst them, she saw hooded goblins and trolls and even an ogre or two.

There were two women standing before an army.

And they knew they would win.

Regina stood back as she let Emma go forth and do what she did best. The blonde allowed the king’s forces touch on the shore, coming mere feet from her, before unleashing an explosion so powerful Regina could actually see the sea drawing back several hundred feet. The mass of men and monsters disintegrated upon touching the strands of white light which ran from where Emma was standing. Regina was chucking enormous balls of fire wherever she could, enjoying herself tremendously. But it wasn’t really necessary, for she knew Emma had it all under control. This allowed her to proceed into the enemy lines and cut through them, using fire as her tool to create a pathway through the army to the man whose head she wanted to rip off.

At the farthest end of the beach, behind masses of men and monsters, stood Robin. Regina refused to call him King John, not even in her head; she had known the bastard as Robin, and Robin he would be until he was dead and in the ground.

“Oh, look, the coward decided to show up to his funeral.” She sneered once she came close enough to hear them. She cast a bubble around them, warding off any of Robin’s guards or soldiers, trapping the two men with no place to run. She could see the fear in Robin’s eyes, and was more than pleased to see Hook as white as a sheet.

“Are you here to destroy my world?” She then asked. “Because if you are, you’re doing a terrible job at it.”

Robin’s anger flared and he stood up straight, glaring at Regina. “I’ve got hundreds of men. You’ve got what - two fighters at most?”

“One.” Regina corrected him.

“One?”

“Emma.”

“Emma?”

“She’s pretty mad.”

An explosion shook the ground to emphasise Regina’s point.

“What did you think you could accomplish with this?” She drawled, eyeing Robin with disgust. She couldn’t believe she had once thought she had loved this man; more to the point, she could not believe she had ever stooped so low as to _kiss_ this man, to allow his tongue in her mouth and his hands on her body. She shuddered at the thought.

“I have to rule the world.” Robin growled. “I must.”

“Why?” Regina asked, feigning innocence. “You have something to prove?”

“My brother, Richard, was a farce. I will show the people who the _real_ king is.”

“How sweet. You’ve got an inferiority complex.”

“How dare yo-”

“I have a proposal for you.”

Robin narrowed his eyes. “What?”

“Fight me.”

“What?”

“No magic. Just swords. Duel to the death. Winner takes it all.”

“Why?”

“Because I want to slice your stomach open with a sword.” Regina snarled. “And I guess I’ve learned to play fair.”

“Fair enough. Fight to the death.” Robin said slowly. He pulled his sword from his sheath and nodded for Hook to go stand by.

“Fight to the death.” Regina repeated. She summoned a sword with her magic; it was quite a beauty, a long, slim sword forged of white steel with rubies and sapphires embedded in it’s hilt. She held it gracefully, as though it were nothing, and stood with such power in her stance that any regular man would have cowered upon sight.

The first time their swords connected, Robin knew he was going to lose. The woman before him was so much stronger, and there was a hunger in her eyes which he could not understand. As he leapt sideways and turned to dodge a quick stab from his opponent, he could have sword he had seen her eyes flash fiery red. Regina, however, took her sweet time toying with him, tiring him out, all while Emma took care of his army outside the little bubble.

She danced around, swinging her sword with an almost manic expression on her face. She felt drunk and high and static, electricity and power running through her veins. Her world was spinning, but she was spinning with it, and she was having a great time.

When Robin finally tired out and fell over, she placed her bare foot on his chest and pointed her sword at his throat. “Well, John, I’m disappointed.” She sneered. She eyed the man, seeing the fear and defiant expression in his eyes, not noticing the fact that Hook was running at her with his sword raised.

“Don’t you dare touch my girlfriend!”

Regina didn’t even turn to look at Emma as the woman burst through the bubble and tackled Killian, grabbing him by the throat and placing a knife against his stomach. She heard her voice, and her mind hung on the last word, creating a tiny window for her opponent to try and swing his sword at her. At the last minute, she noticed, and sliced his hand off without so much as a notice. The King howled in pain as blood spurted from his stump, and Regina couldn’t avoid making a jab at him.

“Look. Now you match your boyfriend.”

Behind her, Killian was struggling against Emma’s considerable strength. He tried to grin, but was a bit too afraid for his cockiness to guide his actions.

“What are you waiting for, blondie?” He snarled, struggling for breath. “Kill me.”

Emma shook her head. “Oh, no. Not yet. You’re going to watch this.” She turned slightly so Hook could see as Regina lowered her sword and crouched over the King’s body. The man was writhing in pain from his lost hand, and was groaning too.

Regina placed a hand on the King’s chest and grinned. “Sad as it may be, you’re not going to die, my dear.”

The man looked up at her in confusion. He was sweating from the pain, and yet again Regina wondered how she could have ever found him attractive.

“What do you mean? Kill me.”

“No, my dear. I’m trying to be good, you see. And so far as I know, good people don’t murder. No matter how much...they want to.”

“Kill me.”

But Regina just shook her head. “No.” Her hand began glowing against the man’s chest, a bright red, and all of a sudden he was howling in pain as her fingertips pierced his skin and touched the veins beneath. “I’m sending you to the Midlands. Let the Queen take care of you.”

There was a flash of silver, and King John was gone. His armor and clothing remained, but not a drop of blood was in sight. Regina was pleased; she knew the Morrígan would have a ball, destroying the King over and over again in her realm. She stood up slowly and turned to face Emma and Killian. “Now for you, my dear.” She smiled at Hook. “Emma’s got some unfinished business with you.”

Emma grinned as she withdrew her knife and lowered Hook to the ground, her hand tightening around his throat. She imagined what it would be like to kill him - to feel his last breath as her hands crushed his windpipe, to see the fear in his eyes before they closed forever - but she knew she wouldn’t do it. She couldn’t do it.

It wasn’t right.

So instead, she shoved her hand into Hook’s chest, withdrawing his heart with ease. It was tiny and almost completely black, like a shrivelled, dried up plum. She placed one finger on it and there was a small burst of bright white light as her spell withdrew Hook’s romantic capacity out of his heart. She then shoved his heart back into his chest, letting his love spill out of her hand and into the wind.

“Good night, Hook.” She whispered as she cast a sleeping curse onto him. Without the capacity to love, he would never have a true love’s kiss, thus making it impossible for him to ever wake from his curse. She waved her hand and his sleeping body disappeared somewhere - she didn’t care where.

She turned to look at Regina. The woman’s skirt had a few splatters of blood on it, but otherwise there was no indication of what had just happened.

The explosions which she had cast hadn’t killed the soldiers - Emma had decided, after the initial fight, that she never wanted to kill ever again. Regina had spent a long time helping her figure out how to send people into other realms, because, as they soon learned, Emma’s abilities were far beyond simple one-realm magic.

There wasn’t a single sign on the beach of the battle which had just taken place. The protection spell was still in place, a silvery wall running along the beach and around the town. As Emma waved her hand, the wall fell away like a curtain.

It had gotten dark as they were fighting - above them, they could see the heavens and the stars which dotted the dark night sky like diamonds on black velvet. It was absolutely beautiful, and without even realising, Emma found herself wrapping her arms around Regina and holding her close.

“You called me your girlfriend.” Regina said after a long while.

“I did.”

“I liked that.”

“Oh?”

“I did.”

“How romantic.”

“Shut up.”

They were quiet for a while.

“What now?”

“How about you move in?”

Emma turned and smiled at her girlfriend. “Fine.”

“Fine?” Regina asked, astonished. “Don’t make it sound like some gruesome chore. You’d be lucky to live with me.”

“Of course I would.” Emma hummed, leaning her head against Regina’s shoulder.

“I love you.” Regina whispered, her hand lacing through Emma’s hair absent-mindedly. “My Savior.”

“I love you too.” Emma smiled, planting a soft kiss on Regina’s cheek. “My Queen.”

**_And they lived happily ever after._ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and here we go! done! finally!  
> hope you guys liked it :) I really appreciate you all for reading and kudosing and commenting, it's really truly appreciated!!


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